Never Felt This Way
by looney4rooney
Summary: Remember that fateful New Year's that Troy and Gabriella met each other. Well with the Evans twins there, things don't go as planned. In fact, with Gabriella falling for Ryan and Troy falling for Sharpay, you can pretty much kiss Troyella goodbye.
1. Arrival Time

**Never Felt This Way**

.o.

**Note: OK, so I really wanted to write an HSM fic that started from a little before the beginning of the first movie, but twisted things up a little bit. Hope you enjoy it!**

.o.

Gabriella held her breath in, her eyes amazed at the sight before her. Stepping carefully out of the cab and onto the walkway, she took in the humongous old-fashioned ski lodge before her, admiring the blanket of snow covering the grounds. Her fingers grasped the strap of her messenger bag and she let out an excited squeal as they walked into the lobby.

Gabriella was on winter break and she and her mother had decided to come to the Lodge for the entire vacation period of two weeks. Never before had they gone on such an extravagant vacation and it was going to last for two whole weeks. It was a sort of gift to Gabriella to make up for the fact that they had to move to a whole new town… yet again. While the Montez's were on their little excursion, their things were being shipped to their new home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

But right now, Gabriella didn't want to think about starting a brand new life in a foreign place. She wanted to enjoy this, to put all her nervous feelings aside and live in the present. She had two whole weeks to sort her feelings out and to have fun before regular life resumed again. And by gosh, she was going to enjoy it.

A bellhop came over to assist them after Ms. Montez checked in.

"Welcome to the Lodge, Ms. And Ms, Montez. May I assist you with your bags?" he asked politely.

Gabriella and her mother looked at each other their eyes twinkling with the joy of living a fantasy life. A life where people waited on them, where they didn't have to do anything for two whole weeks; could anything be better than this?

"Yes, thank you," Ms. Montez replied humbly, a slight Spanish accent in her voice.

The bellhop took the bags that lay in a heap on the lobby floor and placed them on the cart. He then ushered them to follow him down through the lobby and over to the elevators. He pressed number 6 and lights flashed yellow and bells dinged as the elevator made its way to the ground level.

Gabriella watched as the glass elevator descended down from the upper levels. She noticed a boy with caramel colored hair in snowboarding attire, a bag slung across his toned shoulders, riding in the elevator. As the elevator reached the lobby level, she noticed the boy had a gorgeous tan and piercing blue eyes that made her heart skip a beat. Gabby blushed as the boy exited the elevator and glanced her way. He gave her a smile small as he and his dad made their way through the lobby and out the huge oak doors.

Gabby smiled shyly back and then quickly hopped onto the elevator. She backed into a corner and closed her eyes. What had just gone on there? Was that some sort of look of approval? Did that guy think she was pretty?

She shook her head. What was she doing? She never did this stupid analyzing-a-boy's-every-move-thing that other girls did! Truthfully, Gabriella never even thought about boys. She had never had a boyfriend, had never been kissed and she really didn't care. She was much too focused on her schoolwork to worry about petty little things like crushes. She figured that when the time was right she would find her one true love and that would be that!

But now, Gabriella was feeling something she had never felt before. She had a crush… on this boy she didn't even know. One glance in her direction and she was smitten.

Gabby came back down to earth once she realized everyone was off the elevator except her. Gabby felt her face turn red as she ran to catch up with her mom and the bellhop. She couldn't believe how this was affecting her!

Gabby was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she almost ran into her mother, when they abruptly stopped in front of their door.

The bellhop turned towards the door and pulled a key out of his pocket, expertly unlocking the door. "A key for you both," he said handing both Gabby and her mom a key to the room.

He wheeled the cart in, placing their luggage in the closet and then said, "Enjoy your stay" as he exalted.

The room was absolutely gorgeous. Or should I say rooms. The Montez's stood inside the living/kitchen room. Yet there were also two bedrooms off the main room.

"Mom," Gabriella exclaimed as she walked into her very own room admiring the Victorian furniture, "I can't believe you booked a suite!"

Gabriella turned around and gave her mother a huge hug and kissed on the cheek.

"This is going to be the best Christmas and New Year's ever!" Gabriella cried.

It was December 24, just one more day till Christmas. Gabriella was so excited to spend Christmas in such an exciting place. And school didn't start till the 10th of January! She couldn't believe how long Albuquerque's winter break was.

Gabby walked back into the main room and her mouth dropped open at the sight of the ornamented Christmas tree in a corner of the room, the fireplace glowing merrily beside it. Gabby gently touched a small icicle ornament that hung from one of the branches when she noticed an envelope with her name on it. She tore open the letter and read it aloud to her mother:

Ms. Gabriella Montez you are cordially invited to the Lodge Christmas Party for Teens. This even will take place from 7 PM-1 AM in the Teen Game Room this Christmas Eve. Don't worry parents the teens will be supervised so the late hour of the party is nothing to be concerned about. Hope to see you there!

"Oh Gabby," Ms. Montez exclaimed. "Doesn't that sound like fun? You should go!"

"I don't know," Gabriella said softly. She really wasn't very into going to parties. She preferred to just read a book for the rest of the day.

"Oh come on Gabby," Ms. Montez said wrapping her arm around Gabriella. "Don't you want to make some friends while we're here. You know, someone to pal around with for the rest of the week."

"Not really," Gabby mumbled under her breath. She knew her mom really wanted her to go though, so she said, "Fine I'll go."

Ms. Montez clapped her hands together, jumping up and down excitedly. "Let's go pick out your outfit."

Gabriella sighed and looked up at the clock hanging on the wall. Four more hours till the party that she didn't care to go to would start.

.o.

A limo pulled up to the lodge a pile of expensive-looking pink luggage tied to the top of the sleek black car. All of the luggage hadn't fit in the car. But that was quite typical for one half of the Evans twins.

Sharpay Evans daintily stepped out of the limo, wearing a bright pink mini dress with pink pumps. Not exactly weather appropriate huh? She fluffed her bright blonde hair as she examined her reflection in an ice puddle on the sidewalk.

"Ryan!" Sharpay shrilled impatiently. "Get out of the limo!"

Ryan sighed and slipped out of the limo, pulling a gray sweater over his green pinstripe shirt and pulling his bright green beret down over his ears. "It's freezing." Ryan exclaimed as he hugged himself, shivering.

"I'm cold too!" Sharpay cried. "Give me your sweater!"

"No," Ryan said meekly. "It's not my fault you decided to dress like its 100 degrees outside."

"But, you're at least wearing a long-sleeve shirt," Sharpay pouted sticking out her lower lip. "Fine, that ugly sweater would clash with my fabulous outfit anyway!"

Ryan glared at her and said, "Let's just go inside, Shar."

The blonde twins walked through the revolving doors and took a seat in the lobby while they waited for the bellhop to gather all of their luggage. This might take a while.

"Why did we have to come here anyway?" Sharpay whined. "Couldn't Mommy and Daddy have picked like a beach or something? Somewhere where I could actually dress cute."

"The weather doesn't seem to be stopping you." Ryan mumbled.

"What did you just say?" Sharpay asked menacingly.

"Nothing!" Ryan said smiling sweetly at his sister.

"That's what I thought," Sharpay said smugly.

Ryan rolled his eyes slumping down on the sofa.

Finally, the bellhop came inside trying to push 2 carts at the same time. It wasn't working too well.

"Geez, Shar, did you have to bring so much?" Ryan asked, running over to the bellhop.

"I can push one of those carts," Ryan said, helpfully.

The bellhop smiled at Ryan and the both of them began pushing the carts to the elevator.

"Wait for me!" Sharpay cried, tottering in her four-inch pumps as she tried to catch up with them.

.o.

Ryan helped the bellhop carry his and Sharpay's bags into the three-bedroom suite Mr. and Mrs. Evans had booked for the family. Their parents had arrived the night before and had sent for Ryan and Sharpay early this morning.

Ryan took his beret off and began to fan his face with it. He wasn't really used to lifting things, or rather working out at all. The only kind of exercise he ever did was dancing. Dancing, singing, acting, Ryan did it all, along with Sharpay, of course. They had starred in the lead roles of every school play since kindergarten. So Ryan was fit, but not exactly strong.

"I'm bored," Sharpay complained as she lay on a chaise in the living room, rubbing her feet. They were pretty sore after wearing those killer shoes all day.

"Well," Ryan said irritatingly, "Why don't you help us with your bags?"

"I'm not that bored." Sharpay said laughing.

Suddenly, Sharpay's eyes caught sight of a cream envelope with _Sharpay and Ryan Evans _printed on it in gold lettering, hanging on the tree.

Sharpay raced over to the tree and plucked the letter off the tree, ripping the envelope open and scanning the contents of the letter.

Sharpay squealed and yelled, "RYAN!"

"What Shar?" Ryan asked exasperated as he dropped yet another matching pink suitcase that he guessed to weigh about one hundred pounds in Sharpay's room.

"We are going to a Christmas Eve party tonight!" Sharpay said excitedly.

"Do we have too?" Ryan asked glumly. He was really tired after their long day of traveling. All he really wanted to do was rehearse his try-out song for the winter musical and go to bed early.

"Ryan you have to come! You have to be my escort! I can't show up alone!" Sharpay exclaimed dramatically.

"Okay, okay…don't throw a fit!" Ryan said trying to calm her down. "Fine, I'll go with you."

"YAY!" Sharpay said hugging him.

"Oh my gosh, I only have three hours to get ready!" Sharpay screamed as she hurried into her room.

"Oh lord, only three hours," Ryan mumbled sarcastically as he tipped the bellhop.

.o.

Troy sighed as he sat next to his dad on a ski lift that was taking them to a mountainside coffee shop. He couldn't stop thinking about the girl he had seen by the elevators. She was so beautiful with her long dark hair and golden skin. He hadn't seen someone so exotically and naturally beautiful in a long time. Just one look at her and he was instantly attracted to her. He hoped he would run into her again.

"Troy…TROY!" his father yelled, waving his hands in front of Troy's face. "Snap out of it. We're here."

Troy shook his head and hopped off the ski lift, grabbing his snowboard. He'd had a pretty good run today, but he was wiped out. And freezing!

Troy relaxed as he walked into the coffee shop, instantly feeling the heater warm him up. Mr. Bolton and Troy took a seat in one of the booths and took their scarves and gloves off. After ordering two cups of coffee, Mr. Bolton's cell phone started to ring.

As he answered it, Troy drifted back into his thoughts. What would he do if he saw her again? Would he introduce himself? Would he wait for her to come to him?

Troy was brought back to reality when he realized his dad was getting out of the booth.

"Where are you going?" Troy asked.

"Didn't you just hear me? We're leaving," Mr. Bolton replied.

"But what about our drinks?" Troy asked confused.

"We have to go back to the Lodge. Your mom just called and told me that you are going to a kids party or something like that and we are going to some adult event so we have to get back and get ready."

Troy nodded. Ugh! He didn't want to go to some stupid party, when he could be snowboarding or playing basketball. Its not like he would know anyone at the party. Troy reluctantly bundled back up and grabbed his snowboard, following his dad out the door.

.o.

Gabriella stood in front of the full-length mirror in her room. She had pulled her long dark hair into a low ponytail flipped over her shoulder, the curls tumbling down. She was wearing a blue sweater and her favorite pair of jeans with brown boots.

"How do I look?" Gabriella asked her mother.

"You look beautiful Gabby!" Ms. Montez reassured her. "Now go knock those boys dead!"

Gabby blushed. Her mother turned around and Gabby quickly threw a book into her bag before her mom could notice.

"Bye Mom," Gabriella said as she walked out the door and began walking down the hallway toward the elevator, her arms folded across her chest and her heart pounding nervously.

.o.

Ryan sat on the bed in his room examining his sheet music, making sure everything was in his key. He had dressed hours ago, yet Sharpay still wasn't ready. He was wearing white corduroy pants, a pink polo, and a black beret atop his shock of blonde hair.

Ryan sighed as he realized it was time to go. He got up off the bed and walked over to Sharpay's door. He tapped lightly on the door and said, "Shar are you ready yet?"

Sharpay opened the door ushering Ryan inside.

"Whoa, Shar, doncha you think the whole things a little too much?" Ryan asked in shock.

Sharpay was wearing a sparkling golden sequin dress with golden platform heels. Her hair was sleek and straight and she was wearing at least five layers of makeup.

"What?" Sharpay asked confused.

"Never mind," Ryan said rolling his eyes. "Let's just get this over with."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door before she could make herself look even scarier than she already did.

.o.

Troy pulled a black dress jacket over his blue button-up shirt, and started to walk out the door when his mom grabbed him by the hand and turned him around.

"Look at my handsome young man," Mrs. Bolton exclaimed smoothing down his jacket.

"Mom," Troy groaned.

"Sorry," his mom said giggling. "Have fun."

Troy nodded and left the hotel room, making his way towards the party room.

.o.

**Hope you liked this first chapter and want me to continue! Feel free to give me any comments or suggestions! I will update as often as I can what with having school so please bare with me! Thanks for reading!**


	2. Karaoke

**Never Felt This Way**

.o.

**Note: Thank you to Nikki, Raddy, Katie, Emily, Ally and hersheyskiss for reviewing! And Meika for reading! Without further ado, Chapter 2!**

.o.

Gabriella took a deep breath as she walked into the elevator. There was no need to be nervous. She would get there, stay for a few hours, and then come back to her room and everything would be fine.

"Hey, can you hold that door!" a voice called out from the hallway.

Gabby quickly pressed on the Door Open button.

Gabriella almost laughed out loud at the pair who entered the elevator. There was a boy wearing the most outrageous outfit she had ever seen. She knew no guys that wore pink shirts or berets. But then again she didn't really know any guys. And the girl looked like she was going to the Oscar's, not some silly little teen party. Her gold dress was so bright that Gabriella wanted to shield her eyes.

The boy smiled at her, a smile that took over his entire face. A smile that was very comforting and inviting.

"Thanks," Ryan exclaimed brightly. He was really trying to cheer himself up. He didn't like being in a bad mood.

"Your welcome," Gabby replied politely, a small smile creeping onto her face. She couldn't help it. His smile was so infectious.

Sharpay was so busy staring at herself in the glass reflection that she didn't notice the little moment Ryan and Gabriella were having.

"I'm Ryan and that's my sister Sharpay." Ryan said pointing to Sharpay. "Are you headed to the teen party? Truthfully I don't exactly want to go." Ryan confessed.

"Yes, and I don't want to either," Gabby replied. This guy seemed really nice He seemed so different from his high-maintenance sister. Maybe she would make a new friend after all. "Oh and I'm Gabriella."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Ryan said politely, tipping his beret, like a true gentleman.

Gabriella giggled at the gesture.

The three stepped out of the elevator and Sharpay screamed, "Ryan, let's go…NOW!"

Ryan winced and shrugged his shoulders laughing.

"I'm being beckoned," he stated. "I guess I'll see you around," he said grinning as he turned to walk into the party with Sharpay.

Gabriella nodded and sighed as she watched them walk in. At least Ryan had his sister to go in with. He got to go into the party knowing at least one person. Gabriella once again took a deep breath and walked through the doors.

The room was like a nightclub for teens. There was a DJ area, a dance floor, a bar area (serving non-alcoholic drinks of course), and even a karaoke platform. Small tables were placed all through out the room; teens sat at them sipping hot chocolate and chatting. Christmas music blasted from the speakers and Christmas trees, ornaments, and decorations covered the room.

Gabriella smiled at the atmosphere of the room. She found a red couch right in front of the karaoke platform that was empty and took a seat, pulling out her novel. She began to read, somehow able to concentrate despite the music.

.o.

Ryan began humming his audition music in his head, bored to death. He had been following Sharpay around the room watching her mingle with other people. He wasn't being completely anti-social. He smiled at the appropriate times, laughed when everyone else did, and let Sharpay introduce him. He was there physically, just not mentally. He was too busy working on his audition 24/7 that there was hardly time for anything else.

.o.

Sharpay was laughing at something the girl beside her had said when her mouth dropped open. She couldn't believe her eyes. There, sitting at the bar drinking hot cocoa, was none other than Troy the Basketball Boy. Sharpay had always had a crush on Troy. Ever since she had first laid eyes on him in 7th grade, she had fallen head over heels in love with his confident attitude and big blue eyes. Yet, Troy always seemed to brush her off. I wonder why?

.o.

Troy was miserable. All he could think about was what he could be doing right now if it wasn't for this gay party his parents had forced him to go to. He hopped off the stool and stood there looking around the room. They wouldn't happen to have a basketball hoop somewhere around here would they?

Suddenly, he noticed a girl with raven colored hair reading a book. It couldn't be the girl by the elevators, could it? He started to stride across the room towards the mystery girl.

.o.

"Excuse me," Sharpay said fake sweetly to the crowd of people she had been talking with. She grabbed Ryan's hand and dragged him into a corner, jerking Ryan out of the scales he had been practicing in his head.

"What the heck, Shar?" Ryan asked. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall waiting for Sharpay to speak.

"Troy is here, Ryan! At the Lodge! Can you believe it?" Sharpay whispered excitedly.

"Troy Bolton," Ryan said surprised. "Well, don't look now, but I think he has his eyes on someone else."

Sharpay whipped her head around, her long blonde hair whacking Ryan in the face.

"Owww," Ryan said cupping his hands over his face. "Your hair is as hard as a rock!"

"Hairspray!" Sharpay cried angrily as she watched Troy make his way to the couch.

.o.

Gabriella was reading, when all of a sudden the light from the lamp went away. Gabby looked up to find elevator boy standing in front of her, blocking the light.

"Oh, you startled me!" Gabriella said shyly.

Troy chuckled, and stuck his hands in his coat pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels. "Mind if I sit down?" he asked.

"Uh, no, not all," Gabriella exclaimed.

Troy nodded and lowered himself down on the sofa, careful not to sit too close to her.

There was a little bit of awkward silence. Then Troy spoke up, "Um I'm Troy. And you are?"

"Gabriella"

"Gabriella," Troy repeated softly. "How long are you here for?"

"Um, till the 7th."

"Me too," Troy exclaimed. "We should hang out sometime."

Gabriella nodded, smiling at him.

.o.

Sharpay glared as she watched the two interact. That should be her not that stupid girl they had met in the elevator.

Ryan yawned into his hand. He almost wanted to just put his beret over his face and fall asleep leaning against the wall. He was so tired of the party, especially now that Sharpay was fuming. He didn't have to look at her to know that she was extremely jealous right now.

Sharpay was just about to rant to Ryan about the entire thing when Ryan was saved by an announcement. Thank God!

"Karaoke Time!" one of the supervisors exclaimed.

Everyone started moaning except for Sharpay, of course.

Sharpay grabbed Ryan's hand and threw their clasped hands into the air. "We'll go first."

Ryan groaned. "Fine we can go if we do our audition music."

"Deal," Sharpay said sticking her tongue out at him.

Sharpay walked over to one of the supervisors and handed her a CD. "We'll be singing to this."

The supervisor took the CD confused. "Well usually we pick the song at random, but I guess this is OK."

Sharpay skipped off and joined Ryan on the platform.

.o.

Troy stopped mid-sentence in his and Gabriella's conversation when he saw Sharpay and Ryan take the stage.

"Sharpay and Ryan!" he exclaimed shocked.

"You know them?" Gabriella asked.

"Yes. Do you?" Troy asked, surprised.

"I just me them today, in the elevator, when I was coming down to the party. How do you know them?"

"We've gone to school together for forever. I can't believe they're here," he groaned.

"I take it you aren't very fond of them." Gabriella said giggling.

Before Troy could respond, cheerful pop music blasted from the speakers. Troy and Gabriella glanced up to find Ryan and Sharpay, microphones in hand, snapping their fingers to the music. Gabriella wanted to burst out laughing at the sight of the two. Both of them had huge fake smiles on their faces and Sharpay had added a tiara to her ensemble. Ryan's hat was now artfully tipped to the side and his feet tapped to the rhythm as well. Troy groaned as he started to sing.

_It's hard to believe that I couldn't see_

_You were always there beside me_

Gabriella felt a shock of electricity run through her body as Ryan sang those few words. His voice was gorgeous. She would have never guessed that such an amazing voice could come out of such an oddly dressed boy.

Sharpay began batting her eyelashes at Troy as she began to sing much to his chagrin.

_Thought I was alone with no one to hold_

_But you were always right beside me_

Gabby laughed as the twins turned towards each other, feigning fake surprise. Ryan has seemed like such a shy guy, but his confidence seemed to burst out when he was performing. It was very… sexy. Oh gosh, had she really just thought that.

As the song progressed, Gabriella found that she could not take her eyes off of Ryan. Every silly little thing he did made her swoon. His huge smile and comical gestures made her grin. His jazz squares brought her attention to his hips and she blushed as she noticed how well he could swivel them. She hoped no one else noticed how this performance was affecting her. She glanced over at Troy to make sure he was completely oblivious, and he was. Troy was to busy trying to avoid Sharpay's come-hither looks to see Gabby's flushed red face.

Gabby, yet again, drifted back into thoughts of Ryan. She realized the clothes she had thought were so ridiculous just minutes before… suited him. The pink polo hugged his well-defined arms, his white jeans fit perfectly, and his jaunty little beret looked adorable on him.

Ryan and Sharpay finished their song and stood in their poses until everyone began to clap. The audience wore bemused expressions on their faces as they both bowed and as Ryan stepped back to clap for Sharpay, giving his sister the spotlight.

The supervisors ended up having to drag Sharpay off the stage since she wouldn't stop bowing. Ryan rolled his eyes as he followed her off the stage.

"OK, who wants to go next?" a supervisor shouted out.

No one responded.

"Ok, we'll just have to pick someone then!"

The supervisor pointed to Troy and Gabriella. "How about the pair on the couch?"

"Ohhhh no," Gabby exclaimed.

"I can't even sing," Troy protested.

"C'mon," the supervisor said, grabbing both of their hands and leading them up onto the stage. She handed them both mikes and stepped off the stage.

Troy heard the music start and realized he had to sing first. He held the microphone up to his mouth and began to sing:

_Living in my own world_

_Didn't understand_

_That anything can happen_

_When you take a chance_

Sharpay stared at Troy her eyes wide with surprise. Troy could sing?! She nudged Ryan and Ryan turned to look at her, sporting an equally stunned face.

Gabriella folded her arms across her chest as she began to sing:

_I never believed in_

_What I couldn't see_

_I never opened my heart_

_To all the possibilities_

_Ooooooo_

Ryan and Sharpay yet again exchanged surprised glances. Gabriella could sing too?!

Towards the middle of the song both Troy and Gabriella were singing confidently and dancing to the beat. They exchanged sweet smiles as they sang.

Sharpay watched with utter disgust and could hardly contain her anger. She started to walk towards the stage when she felt Ryan grab her hand and yank her back to his side.

"Shar, don't go and ruin their performance, just because you're jealous," Ryan said disappointed in her.

Sharpay gasped at Ryan's blunt statement. Ryan never talked to her like that.

She was so shocked that she couldn't even form words. She just stood there staring at Troy and Gabby's performance wishing she were Gabriella and not Sharpay, the girl no boy wanted.

The pair ended the song:

_Start of something neeeeeeeew_

Everyone began to clap even Ryan! He really didn't care if Sharpay would get angry with him. Troy and Gabriella had done a great job and they deserved applause.

.o.

Troy and Gabriella smiled at each other shocked at all the applause they were getting. Troy grabbed Gabby's hand and squeezed it. Then left the stage to find something to drink. Man, he was thirsty.

.o.

Gabriella was glowing as she exited the stage. She couldn't believe she had just sung in front of all these people. She sat back down on the couch still shaking with the nervousness of being onstage. She had had fun, but she was glad it was over with.

.o.

Ryan noticed Gabriella had sat back down on the couch again.

"Hey, Shar, I'm gonna go talk to Gabriella ok?" he said.

"But what about me?" she exclaimed.

"Go find Troy and some mistletoe!" he said sarcastically.

Sharpay gasped in shock yet again. What had gotten into Ryan tonight?

.o.

Gabriella glanced over her shoulder and saw Ryan coming over to her. Oh my gosh, Gabby thought. How can I face him after all those embarrassing thoughts I had about him.

Better get yourself together Gabriella.

.o.

**Hope you enjoyed that 2nd chapter! I hope to do maybe about 2 more party chapters. Hopefully this fic will end up being a long one and spanning over the 2 weeks of winter break. Please read and review!**


	3. Cheeto Saliva

**Never Felt This Way**

.o.

**Note: Thank you to all my reviewers! I appreciate it. Let me say that though this chapter is shorter than the previous two, I hope that the comedic scenes I so enjoyed writing make up for it.**

.o.

Ryan casually strode over to the couch and sat down next to Gabriella.

"You did a really fantastic job just now!" Ryan said smiling at her with admiration. "Tell me that wasn't the first time you had ever sang before?"

Gabriella laughed nervously as she felt her body heat rise. "Well, I'm in my church choir but I've never sang a duet or a solo before. That was just completely out of this world!"

"Hard to believe what with your talent," Ryan said his eyes twinkling.

Gabby blushed at the compliment. "Well, I never thought I would be able to sing solo. I mean, with a group you mess up and hardly anyone notices, but in a solo or a duet everyone notices."

"True," Ryan said honestly. "But I can hardly see you messing up a song. Your pitch was right on during the entire performance. You really should consider breaking out on your own."

Gabriella couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. He was so sweet and she couldn't help but wish he would just kiss her right then and there. Gabby felt herself staring at his lips. They were so soft looking. She wanted to reach out and touch them.

Snap out of it, she thought.

"Oh wow, I don't know. I mean, I guess I could consider it," Gabriella said uncertainly.

"You should," Ryan replied quickly.

.o.

Meanwhile, Sharpay sat in an armchair, pouting. Ryan was completely ignoring her and all she could do was replay Troy and Gabriella's performance in her head over and over, trying to analyze whether Gabriella was into him. She could tell Troy was definitely attracted to her, but she wasn't so sure about Gabby.

Sharpay noticed Troy standing in a corner reading a snowboarding magazine. And what was that hanging above him? Yep, that's right, a sprig of… mistletoe!

Sharpay could hardly believe her luck. Ryan's little statement must be a sign that Sharpay was supposed to kiss Troy tonight!

.o.

Gabriella smiled at Ryan, finally looking him in the eyes. His eyes! Oh how beautiful they were! A bright blue that made any worry, any trouble disappear.

Ryan grinned back at Gabriella. He was really very impressed by her singing and couldn't help but wish he could borrow her voice for his audition. Not that Sharpay's voice didn't go along with his; they really did sound good together. He just felt that Gabriella's voice would create great harmony with his.

.o.

Sharpay strode across the room, her hair bouncing as she walked with an air of confidence towards Troy. She was a girl on a mission and nothing was going to stop her.

"Mistletoe!" Sharpay squealed when she reached Troy. She closed her eyes and leaned into kiss him when suddenly her lips came into contact with…paper? Nothing was going to stop her… except maybe…_The Lodge Snowboard Zine._

.o.

Suddenly the room went dark. It seemed the electricity had gone out. Um, well yeah, most likely.

.o.

Sharpay was grateful for the sudden darkness. It hid her completely mortified face. She backed up and made her way to a couch, trying to distance herself from Troy, even though she didn't exactly know where she was going.

.o.

Troy couldn't believe Sharpay had just tried to kiss him. He felt like throwing up at the thought of it. He had to get out of here before the lights came back on.

.o.

Gabriella's smile turned into a frown as the lights suddenly shut off. What was going on? She wanted to be able to see Ryan's eyes, his cute little nose, and his lopsided grin.

Ryan blinked a couple of times, trying to get accustomed to the lack of light. "What in the world?" he whispered aloud to himself.

A supervisor stood up on the karaoke stage and announced:

"Attention all party-goers. We are experiencing some technical difficulties right now. All supervisors must attend a staff meeting immediately. We trust all teens can behave while we are gone."

The supervisors filed out of the party, closing the party room doors behind them.

The teens sat around in the darkened room. What now?

After a few minutes, the lights flickered off and on, finally staying on.

"Well, that was odd," Ryan, remarked, turning to face Gabby.

"Yeah," Gabriella said. "Very odd."

.o.

Sharpay looked around the room searching for Troy, but he was nowhere to be found. Where was he?

.o.

Troy stood in the boy's bathroom that was off the party room. He could have stayed in there for the rest of the night, but he knew he couldn't. He stepped out of the rest room and snuck over to the opposite end of the room. He was as far away from Sharpay as possible and he hoped to keep it that way.

.o.

A gorgeous blonde girl stepped into the center of the room grabbing one of the karaoke mikes. "No supervisors means TIME TO PARTY!" she yelled into the mike.

The group of teens started to hoot and holler at the girl's statement, causing the atmosphere to turn from completely silent to raging loud.

Ryan and Gabriella exchanged nervous glances. This didn't sound so good.

The blonde girl smiled at the attention she was getting and continued to speak, "How about Seven Minutes in Heaven?"

Another uproar of enthusiasm erupted through the room.

The girl looked around the room, scouting for victims, when she noticed the pair of not so enthusiastic teens sitting on the sofa. She rushed over to Ryan grabbing his hand.

"What's your name?" she whispered.

"Ryan," Ryan managed to squeak out. Oh no, he was not going in that closet.

"First up," the girl announced. "Ryan and…" She peered around the room and called one of her friends over, "Jasmine!"

Jasmine, a beautiful girl with long brown hair, bounced over to Ryan grabbing his hand and leading him over to the closet.

Gabriella watched the pair disappear into the closet. She couldn't believe how jealous she felt. She wanted to be with Ryan in that closet more than anything right now.

.o.

"You know, we really don't need to do anything…" Ryan started babbling in a high-pitched voice as Jasmine closed the door behind them. Ignoring him, she pushed Ryan up against the wall forcefully.

"Whoa whoa whoa…" Ryan exclaimed shocked at the very forward move.

Jasmine began to fiddle with the buttons on Ryan's polo, trying to unbutton them.

"Hey hold on there a second," Ryan said as nicely as possible, pulling her hands off his chest and clasping them in his so they couldn't wander. "Why don't we…um…get to know each other first?" he exclaimed cheerfully.

"Oh but we are," Jasmine said in a low, throaty voice. She reached for Ryan's belt and started fumbling with the buckle.

Oh lord, Ryan thought. He quickly jumped down to the floor, preventing anymore below-the-waist contact. He sat cross-legged on the floor.

Jasmine peered down at him confused. Didn't he wanna do her?

She knelt down on the floor and pushed Ryan down to where he was lying on his back, and straddled him. She lowered her face down and kissed his neck, causing Ryan to start laughing.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Uh…it just tickled…"

Before Ryan could finish his sentence Jasmine's mouth was on his, her tongue darting in out of his mouth.

Ryan wanted to throw up. Her saliva tasted like…Cheetos. He pushed her off of him and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

This guy was so odd, Jasmine thought. "Didn't you like that?" she asked.

"Well, um, no… not really," Ryan answered awkwardly. "But…uh…thank you?!"

Jasmine just stared at him with a puzzled expression on her face. There was silence.

"So… what's your favorite color?" Ryan asked.

"What?" Jasmine asked. "We just made out and you wanna know what my favorite color is?"

Ryan ignored the question and said, "Is it pink? Purple? Blue?"

Suddenly the blonde girl flung the door open. Ryan blinked as he readjusted to the light. Man, he was glad to leave the closet of hell.

Ryan picked himself up off the floor and smoothed his clothes out, patting down his hair and putting his beret back on.

He walked back over to Gabriella.

"Well, that was fun!" he exclaimed sarcastically.

Gabriella couldn't tell if anything had happened between Ryan and that girl and truthfully, she didn't think she wanted to know. I would say she's better off not knowing. Wouldn't you?

.o.

**Hope you liked it! Don't fret! There won't be a thing going on between Jasmine and Ryan.**

**Next chapter: who enters the closet next? ;)**


	4. Jealousy and BonBons

**Never Felt This Way**

.o.

**Note: Reviewers you rock! Oh and to all the people who Favorited or Story Alerted my story, thank you! It means so much to me to know that people are reading and enjoying my story.**

.o.

Jasmine walked up to her blonde friend, Courtney.

"Court, that guy you sent me in with was so… weird. I was basically pushing myself on him and he kept resisting! I was like, what the hell, ya know?"

"Maybe he's just not into girls," Courtney replied cackling.

The two girls glanced over at Ryan taking a good look at him.

.o.

Ryan had sat back down on the couch with Gabby and felt eyes staring at him. He turned around and saw the girl from the closet and the girl who had started the whole game looking at him, laughing.

Ryan's heart sank a little as he realized his lack of performance in the closet was most likely the cause of there giggling frenzy. So what if he hadn't wanted to have sex with her? He didn't even know her name or who she was. Ryan may be a guy, but he thought of sex as a big deal. Not something to just go ahead and get over with.

Gabby noticed the hurt expression on Ryan's face and frowned. He looked so sad. She put her hand over his. "Ryan, what's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"Nothing," Ryan said putting on a fake smile.

Courtney got up to speak again. "Our next couple will be…" She looked around the room and saw Troy and ushered him forward.

Oh shit, Troy thought as he walked up to the closet. Who would he have to go in with?

"Troy and… Gabriella!" Courtney remembered their names from when they had karaoked together. She had seen the chemistry between them. This should be good.

Gabriella's eyes widened as she heard her name. She looked over at Ryan, who smiled at her sympathetically.

"Hey, if I can get through it, you can," he said encouragingly.

Gabby gave Ryan a small nervous smile. She hoped Troy wouldn't force anything on her. He seemed to like her, but she still wasn't sure whom she liked. She had a thing for Troy, he was a great guy, but there was something about Ryan too. Gosh, this was a dilemma.

.o.

At the hearing of Gabriella's name, Troy had hardly been able to contain his smile. This night was getting better and better. First he got to sing with her, and he had discovered he actually could sing, which was surprising. And now, he got to go in a dark closet with her for seven whole minutes.

Gabriella walked over to Troy and he grabbed her hand leading her into the closet.

Gabby watched Troy close the door behind them. She stood there, fidgeting wondering what to do now.

"Hi," Troy whispered quietly, grabbing her hand and pulling her down to the floor, where they both sat cross-legged facing each other.

"Hi," Gabby whispered back nervously.

Troy leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. He inched over to her mouth and was about to kiss her when Gabby ducked her head down.

Troy pulled back and lifted her chin, bringing her face back up to his level.

"Are you okay, Gabriella?"

Gabriella looked into Troy's eyes and knew she could tell him how she felt.

"I'm sorry, Troy. You seem like a really nice guy, but I just don't really know you yet and I don't feel comfortable doing… this." Gabby whispered quietly.

"But I want to get to know you…" she quickly said.

Troy was a little disappointed but he had to understand. He smiled at her and grabbed her hands.

"It's cool, Gabriella. We can just talk or whatever." He assured her.

Gabriella sighed with relief and smiled back at him.

The pair began to talk about everything from their favorite food to their hobbies and favorite bands. They talked very comfortably. Nothing was awkward or forced and the conversation flowed well.

Sooner then they thought, Courtney was flinging open the door with a frown on her face because she hadn't caught them in the act. And they were walking out of the closet still chatting, not even paying attention to the pairs of eyes that followed them. Soon eyes were on the next couple though and they were forgotten.

.o.

Ryan couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at the fact that Gabriella hadn't come back over to him. He couldn't like her could he? Nah, I mean they were friends, I guess, but he didn't like her like her. He shrugged it off and walked over to Sharpay, yet he still couldn't shake this jealous feeling.

Sharpay noticed Ryan coming over to her and quickly averted her glance from him. She didn't want to talk to him. First, he had ignored her and second he had given her the absolute worst advice ever. Some brother, she thought angrily.

"Hey Shar," Ryan called out as he reached her.

Sharpay glared at him and then looked away, her thin arms folded across her chest. "What do you want, Ryan?" she asked in a monotone voice.

Ryan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and asked, "What did I do Shar?"

"What did you do?" Sharpay cried quietly, trying not to catch the attention of their fellow party-goers. "You told me to kiss Troy and you wanna know what happened? I made out with his stupid magazine!"

Ryan tried to hold back his laughter but couldn't help it. He started to laugh hysterically and managed to sputter out, "You kissed his magazine!"

Sharpay whacked Ryan's arm with her golden clutch and Ryan moaned with pain as he grabbed his shoulder.

"Gosh, Shar," Ryan said perturbed. "But wait a second when did I tell you to kiss Troy? You mean that mistletoe thing I said? Sharpay, I was joking. You knew that right?"

"No," Sharpay muttered in a baby voice.

"Oh," Ryan said shocked. He had never realized how literally Sharpay took everything until now. I guess I have to watch what I say, he thought.

"Well I'm sorry you took that seriously Shar." Ryan said apologetically. "I really am." As horrible as Sharpay could be, he really didn't like it when she was mad at him. She was slightly less horrid to him, when she didn't want to kill him.

"Forgiven," Sharpay said quietly, a sad tone to her voice.

Ryan gave her a small smile and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "C'mon, let's go find some bon-bons. You love bon-bons," he said cheerily steering her over to the buffet table.

.o.

Meanwhile, Troy and Gabriella sat at a booth in the middle of the room. They had grabbed plates of decorated cookies and glasses of milk and sat across from each other munching on their snacks.

"Wow, so your dad is the coach of your basketball team?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah," Troy answered. "It can be kinda tough. I mean he expects me to do the best out of everyone else and always makes me practice at home too. It can be stressful."

"That must be really hard," Gabriella said. "If my mom was my teacher… wow. I mean, she expects me to always do so well in school. If she was always making me focus on studying, I'd probably go insane. How do you do it?"

"I guess I'm just so used to it that I can't imagine not doing it, you know. My dad has been coaching my teams since I was seven, so basketball has pretty much always been my entire life."

Troy paused and smiled at Gabriella. "You know, I've never really talked to anyone like this before. I mean really talked talked about important stuff."

"Me neither," Gabriella replied, smiling as well. "It's nice."

"Yeah," Troy said softly in agreement.

.o.

Sharpay and Ryan sat at a table across the room from Gabriella and Troy. Sharpay sat hunched over a box of chocolates, devouring the bob-bons greedily, as she watched Troy and Gabriella's conversation. Ryan sat next to her trying to pretend he was already fast asleep in the hotel room and this entire night was over.

He reached over to take a chocolate out of the box, but before he could Sharpay had slapped his hand away. Wow, she is pissed, Ryan thought.

"Shar, don't you think you've had enough chocolates now?" he asked as nicely as possible.

"No," Sharpay screeched her mouth full.

"You do realize all of that will go to your thighs," he said nonchalantly.

Sharpay looked down at the box and gasped. She hadn't realized how much she had eaten. The entire box was practically empty. She felt like she was going to be sick.

She pushed the box of chocolates over to Ryan and leapt up from the table, covering her mouth as she ran to the restroom.

Ryan frowned at the sight of his sister. She didn't look so good. Oh well, at least he got the chocolates now. He smiled as he bit down on a bon-bon and began humming a show-tune.

.o.

Sharpay ran into the restroom and into a stall, her head over the toilet and she suddenly felt…fine. "Oh thank god," Sharpay said aloud to herself. This dress was really expensive. She went and sat down on the loveseat in the high-class bathroom to catch her breath.

.o.

Troy and Gabriella watched as the couple that had gone into the closet after them emerged clothes mussed and smiling secretively at each other. Troy couldn't help but feel a little jealous. He really wanted to kiss Gabriella, Yet, he couldn't help but realize that when they did kiss, and he was positive they would, it would mean so much more. He now knew the real Gabriella. She wasn't just a pretty face, she was smart, sweet, and so much more.

Gabriella was glad she and Troy hadn't kissed. While she was having a great time with Troy she couldn't keep herself from watching Ryan over at his table. He was grinning happily, tapping his foot to the Christmas music, eating his chocolates. He seemed to be in his own little world. Gabriella wanted to know what he was thinking right this minute.

"Gabriella" Troy said trying to get her attention. "What are you staring at?"

"Nothing, nothing," Gabriella stuttered turning red.

"OK," Troy said laughing. "You wanna go over there?" he asked pointing to the pool table in the corner of the room.

"Uh sure," Gabriella said, forlornly taking one last look at Ryan as she walked with Troy to the pool table.

.o.

Ryan began to get a little worried. He hadn't seen Sharpay in a while. He walked over to the ladie's room and knocked on the door.

"Shar, you still in there?" he called out.

"Ryan," Sharpay whispered as she cracked the door open. She glanced from side to side and made sure no one was watching. She grabbed the front of Ryan's shirt and pulled him into the restroom. She shut the door, locking it quickly.

"Sharpay, this is the girls' restroom!" Ryan cried irritated.

"I know." Sharpay said pushing him over to the bench and shoving him down on it. She took a seat beside him.

"So may I ask why you dragged me in here?" Ryan asked fuming. Really this was the last thing he needed. He didn't need yet another situation in which he looked less than straight.

"Troy and Gabriella," Sharpay said fiercely.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"We have to figure out how to separate them. Before they get any closer than they already are."

.o.

**All right so there was Chapter 4. Hope you liked it!**

**Next chapter: Will Sharpay and Ryan find a way to separate Troy and Gabriella? Stay tuned. haha**


	5. Sprinkles and Snow

**Never Felt This Way**

.o.

**Note: Ok so I know I've had more party chapters than I thought I would, haha, so I'll try to wrap the party up soon. Hope y'all are liking it so far and that you continue to read. Thanks to all those who have reviewed! I love reading them!**

.o.

Sharpay shoved Ryan out of the bathroom.

"Remember the plan," she hissed quietly as she slammed the bathroom door shut.

Ryan quickly ran over to the men's room before anyone could see him. He opened the door and went inside the restroom. After a few seconds, he strolled casually out as if he'd been there all along. He didn't want people to think he had just spent the last twenty minutes in the girl's room. He really hated how Sharpay made him look gay. He was a man who liked w-o-m-e-n. Say it with me. So what if he liked to wear colorful matching outfits and had a passion for performing. That didn't make him a fag.

Ryan was feeling a little nervous. How was he supposed to go through with Sharpay's plan? She hadn't really given him much instruction. He was supposed to some how get Gabriella away from Troy, so Sharpay could get Troy's attention. How in the world was he gonna do that?

Ryan took a deep breath and tried to build up his confidence. Just pretend like your acting, this is a scene in a play, he told himself.

Sharpay slipped out of the restroom and took a seat across the room with a good view of the pool table. "Let's hope Ryan gets this done," Sharpay said aloud to herself.

Ryan stood up straight and walked with an air of confidence towards the table. Think of a line, think of a line, he thought.

"So who's winning?" Ryan asked striding up to the table and leaning against it. Act like you're supposed to be here, he told himself.

"Ryan," Gabriella said a little too brightly, even Troy noticed the enthusiasm in her voice and frowned.

"Ryan," Troy said politely.

Ryan flashed a huge smile and asked, "Now I haven't even been playing? How could I be winning?"

Gabriella laughed heartily at this joke. Troy gave a fake smirk and looked down at the pool table. This kid is ruining everything, Troy thought angrily.

Ryan felt the tension from Troy and began to panic. What was he doing? Why had he agreed to do this? What now?

"Wanna join us Ryan?" Gabriella asked shyly hoping he would say yes.

Wow, Gabriella is being so sweet, he thought. But really, I can't ruin their good time just for Sharpay.

"You know, I'd love to…but I really gotta go eat something before I pass out." Ryan replied. What a lame excuse, Ryan bitterly thought to himself. Nice going man. He gave a little wave and started to stroll off.

Oh no, he's walking away, Gabby thought.

"Ryan, wait!" she called out. Gabby gasped. Did I really just say that? she wondered. She glanced over at Troy who looked shocked by her sudden exclamation.

Sharpay eyes widened as she saw Ryan walking away without Gabriella. "What is he DOING?" she screamed quietly. Then she saw Gabby call out to him and saw Ryan whip around. Gabriella couldn't possibly like…RYAN, could she? I mean she had Troy fawning all over her and yet there she was obviously trying to regain Ryan's attention. Sharpay smiled evilly. This may work out in her favor after all.

Ryan stood there bewildered. Had she really just called his name out?

Gabriella turned bright red at her sudden outburst. "Um, I'm kinda hungry too."

Troy looked at her funny. What was she talking about? They had just eaten.

Ryan stepped closer and stood right in front of Gabby. "Wh-what?" he asked her stuttering. She couldn't possibly be ditching Troy for him. Funny, it must be twin telepathy cause Sharpay was thinking the same thing.

Gabriella replied. "Um, would you mind if I joined you?" Suddenly remembering Troy she added, "How about you Troy, wanna come too?"

Troy grimaced. He really liked Gabriella and wanted to spend time with her, but not with Ryan around.

"Uh, no thanks," Troy said dejectedly shooting a ball into one of the corner pockets.

"OK," Gabriella replied feeling a little guilty. She walked over to him and whispered in his ear, "Call me sometime and we'll make plans to do something, ok?"

Troy smiled at her and nodded. Maybe she did like him and just wanted to hang out with Ryan a little. He hoped so.

Gabriella smiled back at him and then fell into step with Ryan, as the two walked over to the ice cream buffet.

Ryan could hardly believe Gabriella had ditched pool with Troy, a guy considered to be some kind of god, for him, the soft-spoken drama dork.

He took a moment to look at her. She really was beautiful there was no denying that. How could someone as gorgeous as her want to hang out with someone like him?

Gabby could hardly suppress the joy she felt right now. Being with Ryan just seemed to make her glow. She couldn't help but notice the swagger in his step as they walked to the buffet. He was in a good mood now, she could tell. Earlier he hadn't had this spring in his step. Could Ryan like her too?

Ryan ushered Gabriella to stand in front of him in the line, with the explanation of ladies first, which made Gabby blush. He was such a gentleman, Gabby thought dreamily.

Meanwhile, Sharpay was watching Ryan and Gabby from her chair, waiting for the perfect time to walk up to Troy. She watched their interactions closely. Gabby most definitely likes my brother, Sharpay noted. I mean just look at the way she giggles that annoying little laugh every time something comes out of his mouth. Sharpay cackled at this. Ryan looks completely oblivious to her attraction, Sharpay thought. How clueless can he be?

.o.

Ryan began to dump practically the entire container of sprinkles on his sundae.

Gabriella laughed and asked, "Don't you think you have enough there?"

She couldn't possibly be flirting, Ryan wondered. I mean, she's just laughing to make me feel better.

Ryan gave a nervous chuckle and replied, "Never." He grinned.

The two finished fixing their sundaes and took a seat at one of the many tables in the room.

Sharpay watched her brother and that idiotic giggling girl sit down and decided now was the perfect time to go talk to Troy.

She walked up to him, a swing in her step. You would have never guessed that just an hour ago she had completely humiliated herself in front of him. Or at least in front of his magazine.

"Troy," Sharpay squealed enthusiastically.

Troy felt the urge to groan, but bit it back, saying, "Sharpay." He noticed she didn't seem at all embarrassed about the whole mistletoe thing. Ah man, he'd been hoping that would keep her away for at least a couple days.

She gave him a sultry smile. Her name coming out of his mouth was music to her ears. She just decided to ignore the negative tone.

"Where's Gabriella?" she asked innocently.

Troy sighed and jerked his head to the left in Gabby and Ryan's direction.

Sharpay pretended to be surprised at this scenario and gave a little gasp.

"Whatever is my brother doing with Gabriella?" Sharpay exclaimed, with believable shock. Hey, she didn't get the lead in every school play for nothing.

Troy sighed again sadly and shrugged.

"You poor thing," Sharpay said in a baby voice. She reached over and hugged him.

Troy tensed up when Sharpay suddenly grabbed him in a tight squeeze. Ugh, would she get off of him already? But then he began to relax; he was kinda of…enjoying himself. He really couldn't explain it but everything just seemed okay when Sharpay was there holding him. He rested his head on her shoulder and buried his face in her hair, smelling her gorgeous blonde locks.

Sharpay was in heaven for real now. She was hugging Troy Bolton and he wasn't pulling away! She could feel his muscles through his sports jacket and he smelled fantastic.

Sharpay finally pulled away from Troy. She stepped back from him, slowly. She noticed Troy had his eyes closed still. He almost stumbled without her support.

He slowly opened his eyes and just stared at Sharpay with an intensity she had never seen before.

.o.

Ryan dug into his sundae, enjoying his favorite dessert. The party had gone from drab to fab. Sitting here with a beautiful girl who just might like him, eating ice cream. This was the life. Ryan didn't even revel in all the jealous stares he was getting from half the male population in the room. In fact, he didn't even notice it.

Gabriella sat there twirling her spoon around in her ice cream, fascinated by the way Ryan's ice cream slid down his slender throat.

Ryan noticed Gabriella was hardly eating. "Is your ice cream all right?" he asked her.

Gabriella woke up from her thoughts and replied, "Yes, yeah, it's fine." She took a huge bite to assure him it was and smiled.

Ryan smiled and finished off his sundae, yawing a little as he stretched his arms out.

Gabriella couldn't help but notice his well-defined arms. They weren't overly muscular, but they most definitely had definition. "Sleepy?" she asked sweetly.

"Yeah a little," he replied lazily. "I'm usually fast asleep way before now. I'm not much of a late night party guy, actually I almost never go to parties," he stated chuckling.

Gabriella smiled. Yet another reason to completely adore him.

"I'm the same way," she replied. "I'm really not very outgoing so parties really aren't my thing."

Ryan nodded, completely understanding her. We have so much in common, Ryan realized. He hadn't connected with someone this quickly, well…ever.

Suddenly, the huge clock chimed midnight and it was officially Christmas.

The whole room began to cheer and rattle bells and scream MERRY CHRISTMAS at the top of their lungs.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Ryan spotted flakes falling down outside.

"It's snowing!" he exclaimed excitedly. He grabbed Gabriella's hand and led her over to one of the many huge windows in the room.

He's holding my hand, Gabriella thought, butterflies in her stomach from his touch. She looked out at the beautiful mountains and the snow that blanketed them. She gasped at the beauty of it all and turned to Ryan, noticing he had been watching her reaction the entire time.

Seeing Gabriella's face light up, Ryan smiled too and squeezed her hand. Yep, he was still holding it.

And they stood there, hand in hand, peacefully watching the snowflakes drift down from the midnight sky, a comfortable silence settling between them.

.o.

Troy didn't understand this at all. He had gone from hating Sharpay with a passion to wanting to passionately kiss her in under thirty seconds. Wow, his hormones must be really jacked up. He had to get out of here. He had to sort this out.

"Merry Christmas," he mumbled. "I gotta go." He walked away quickly and out the doors of the party room, heading towards the elevator.

"Merry Christmas to you too," Sharpay said sadly, Troy not within earshot. She glanced over at Ryan and Gabriella, holding hands, watching the snow together and felt like crying. Why couldn't Troy like her the way Gabriella liked Ryan?

Suddenly the supervisors burst into the room, tons of electrical equipment in their arms, ready to be placed in the storage closet. Uh-oh!

.o.

**If you can't tell already I think Ryan/Lucas Grabeel is a very good looking man. Lol. Tell me if I go overboard on descriptions about him. Well hope you liked this chapter.**

**Coming up: What will happen to the party now that the supervisors are back?**


	6. After the Party

**Never Felt This Way**

.o.

**Note: So this is the last party chapter. I know, finally, haha. I have a feeling this fic is gonna be pretty long. Anyways, a HUGE thank you to all my reviewers. I love you all! Oh and also I'm glad some people don't mind if I babble on and on about how incredibly hot Lucas/Ryan is. OK, let's get back on topic: Chapter 6 starts now!**

.o.

"We're back!" the head supervisor called out cheerfully. She began to ramble on about everything that had been going on when she noticed the terrified look that all the teens wore on their faces. What on earth was going on she wondered? She began walking over to the storage closet, when suddenly Courtney leapt in front of her.

"Uh, let me get that for you!" she said brightly, her voice a little on edge. She would be so dead if the supervisor found out what was going on in that closet right now.

"Oh, no thank you…" the supervisor replied politely to Courtney as she opened up the closet door. Courtney winced. Here we go, she mumbled under her breath.

The supervisor's eyes widened and she dropped everything in her hands. Her hands flew to her eyes at the sight of the heavy make-out session that had been in action.

"Kindly put your shirt back on!" she screamed shrilly at the girl. Completely shocked she closed the door and screamed, "Come back out when the both of you are decent."

She whipped around to where she was facing the crowd of teens. "Can someone please explain to me what in Sam Hill is going on here?"

All the teens looked down at the floor or up at the ceiling no one wanting to answer the question.

Ryan and Gabriella had turned around to face the supervisors when they had come in and sadly, Gabriella noted, Ryan no longer held her hand. How she longed for his soft pale hand to caress hers yet again.

Sharpay wasn't paying any attention at all to what was going on. She was too upset about what had gone down with Troy to even notice. She sat dejectedly in an armchair. Right now, she didn't feel confident, she didn't feel beautiful, she didn't feel like herself at all.

Ryan turned towards Gabriella and raised his eyebrows. Would anyone fess up?

"No one!" the supervisor cried out angrily. "Someone had to have started this! Who IS the culprit?"

Everyone looked over at Courtney, wondering if she would say anything. The supervisor followed their gaze and soon everyone was staring at a very uncomfortable Courtney.

"You!" the supervisor sputtered walking towards Courtney.

Courtney turned crimson red and started stuttering, "I…I…I…uhhhh…"

"You stay right here," she told Courtney. "And as for the rest of you, the party is officially over. Everyone please return to your rooms. We'll let this one slide and not contact your parents, BUT if anything and I mean anything goes awry at any of the many events we have graciously planned for your age group, your parents WILL find out and all other events WILL be canceled. Understood?"

All the teens nodded or replied with a "yes ma'am" and began to exit the room, except for Courtney who would be receiving a huge lecture from the supervisor.

Ryan was amazed that he actually felt sad that the party was ending an hour earlier. He had wanted more than anything to leave just a few hours ago, but now that he was with Gabriella, he didn't want to go.

Gabriella sighed feeling the exact same way. She wanted more than anything to just spend a little more time with Ryan.

Ryan sighed and scratched the back of his neck, absentmindedly. "Well I guess I gotta go," he said forlornly.

"Yeah," Gabriella replied softly, looking down at the floor.

"See you around," Ryan said giving her a small smile as he turned around to walk off.

"Ryan!" Gabriella called out.

Ryan turned around instantly. He had been hoping she would say something.

"Walk me to my room," she asked shyly.

"Love to," he replied grinning.

He linked his arm with Gabriella's, and the pair began walking towards the door.

Ryan was grinning when he glanced over at Sharpay who looked really upset. He frowned.

"Hey, Gabriella, I'm gonna go tell Sharpay I'm leaving real quick, ok?" he said.

"Ok, sure," Gabriella replied.

Ryan hurried over to Sharpay, trying not to keep Gabriella waiting too long.

Sharpay hadn't noticed Ryan was coming over and jumped a little when someone grabbed her hand. Oh its just Ryan, she thought. Phew. She had been a little scared and a little excited, hoping it was Troy coming back to apologize for running off or something. She knew it had been a little far fetched, but hey a girl can dream.

Ryan bore into her chocolate eyes, his own blue eyes dark and troubled. As mean as Sharpay could be, Ryan still loved his sister and hated to see her upset.

"Is something wrong, Shar?" he asked worried.

"Yeah, but I'll be OK," she said quietly. Ryan had never heard her sound this vulnerable. It was odd.

Sharpay glanced over at Gabriella and saw she was waiting by the door. She put two and two together and figured she was waiting for Ryan. "Go ahead and go with Gabriella, Ry. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Ryan asked. This was so uncharacteristic of Sharpay. It was kind of freaking him out. OK, it was really freaking him out!

"Yeah," Sharpay said smiling sadly. "I'll talk to you when you get back to the room." She gave him a hug and walked out into the hallway by herself, on her way to their suite.

_What the hell had just happened?,_ Ryan asked himself, bewildered. Sharpay had just told him to _forget_ about her. When did that ever happen? And had she just hugged him and told him they would have a heart-to-heart when he got back to their room? Someone hadn't spiked the punch, right?

He shook it off and walked back over to Gabriella.

"Is everything all right Ryan?" Gabriella asked him.

"Uh, yeah," he answered convincingly enough. It surely wasn't something too serious.

"Good," Gabriella replied, smiling at him. _Please, take my hand again, please take my hand again_, Gabriella thought.

"Ready?" Ryan asked smiling, holding his arm out.

"Ready," Gabby answered grinning and looping her arm through his. Hey, an arm was better than nothing.

.o.

Troy reached his room and unlocked the door quietly, hoping to make it inside and to his room before he ran into his parents.

He peered inside through the crack of the door and saw the lights were out. Looks like the coast is clear, he thought.

He slipped in quietly and closed the door behind him. Then BAM the lights switched on and his mother was standing in the living room, a huge smile on her face.

Oh shit, Troy thought. Why is she still up?

"Troy, darling," his mother cried out brightly. "How was the party?"

"Great," Troy said sarcastically. "Now if you'll excuse me-"

"Not so fast mister! Tell me all about the party. What happened?"

Troy sighed. _Gee, well I sang a karaoke love ballad with a girl who I think likes me and ended up being pretty good. And then I hugged Sharpay and felt like I wanted to jump her right then and there,_ he thought bitterly.

"You know just chilled out, ate, whatever," he replied nonchalantly.

"If that's what you say," his mother replied coyly, winking at him.

_Um, what did that mean?_ Troy wondered, disgusted.

"Uh, well I'm gonna head to bed," Troy told her as he walked off.

"All right, sweetheart," his mother cried out to him, blowing him a kiss. "Sleep well."

_Like hell I will_, he thought. How could he possibly sleep. He was actually a tad bit afraid he would have a dream about Sharpay. Yeah, _that_ kind of dream.

.o.

Gabriella and Ryan reached Gabriella's room and stood in front of the door. Now what?

_I wish Ryan would kiss me, _Gabriella thought. She knew this wasn't a date or anything, but she longed to press her lips against his. It was a strange feeling, but a good one.

Ryan didn't really know what to do now. He never walked girls to their door. I mean sure he'd been on dates before, but usually they were group dates with Sharpay and the rest of their theater group and everyone just got dropped off. No one ever walked each other to their doors or anything. It was much more casual. Plus, this wasn't a date anyway right. I mean they were friends, nothing more.

"So…," Ryan stated awkwardly. "I guess I'll see you sometime."

"Are you going to the Christmas banquet?" Gabriella asked him, quickly before she could lose her nerve. She really wanted to know if he'd be there.

"Uh, yeah I think so…are you?"

"Yeah," Gabby said positively glowing. Ryan would be at the banquet! "So I'll see you there then."

"Yeah, definitely."

Gabriella held her hand out and blushed. _Oh gosh, am I seriously trying to shake his hand?_ She felt like she had no control over her body whatsoever.

Ryan laughed a little and instead took her hand and pressed his lips gently against it.

Gabriella blushed and smiled at him, her heart beating a mile a minute. OK, it was official. There was no denying it. She wanted Ryan, not Troy. She wanted Ryan, all Ryan, all the time.

Ryan smiled, amused. She seemed to enjoy that kiss an awful lot. Maybe she really did like him. Wow, this never happened. This was too good to be true right? _Let's try something else,_ he thought.

Ryan walked over to her and gave her a nice friendly hug, patting her on the back affectionately. _How will she react?_

Gabriella tensed up a little. _He's hugging me! Don't pull him closer! _She thought to herself sternly. She couldn't let her body take control of her. She wanted more than anything to press her entire body into his, but she knew she couldn't. _Ryan, thinks we're just friends. You can't make this into something its not._

Ryan grinned wryly, still hugging her, so she couldn't see his face. _She is definitely enjoying this, _he concluded. Her body was heated and tense as if she was holding her feelings back. He let go of her.

"See you tomorrow, Gabby," he said, flashing her one last grin as he turned and walked down the hallway.

"OK," Gabriella replied weakly. She was hardly able to make it inside the hotel room she was so faint. She closed the door behind her and slid to the floor.

"He called me Gabby," she whispered excitedly to herself.

"What was that Gabby?" her mom asked her as she walked into the room.

"Nothing," Gabby replied dreamily. "Night Mom." She hugged and kissed her and walked off in a daze to her room.

.o.

Ryan walked into the Evans suite and found Sharpay lying on the couch watching television absentmindedly.

"Shar," he whispered softly, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Hey Ryan," Sharpay said. She patted the seat next to her on the couch and Ryan obeyed seating himself next to her.

"You need to talk?" he asked uncomfortably. This was a little awkward. He had never really talked to Sharpay before. Basically, Sharpay talked and he listened. She was always barking orders and correcting his dancing and singing and that was all that was spoken between them.

"If you wouldn't mind," she said softly. Sharpay realized that she really wasn't close to anyone. She almost never saw her parents and she really didn't have any friends. There was her theater group, but really she sort of forced them to hang out with her. She had never needed to truly talk to someone until now. This thing with Troy, this was her first boy problem. And she had no one to turn to. Except, Ryan. She knew she treated Ryan like crap, like her slave, but she knew he would always love her. He would always be there for her. And for the first time, she wanted to be close to Ryan, to feel like they truly were twins.

"Of course not," Ryan said.

"Well," Sharpay said nervously. _This shouldn't be weird, _she thought to herself. _Just let it out._

She told him about Troy and how weird the whole situation had been. And Ryan in turn told her about Gabriella and how she liked him, but he wasn't sure on his feelings for her. And for the first time they really felt like twins, like true brother and sister.

.o.

**All righty then! Hope you liked it! And just to make this clear all this Ry/Shar is totally brother/sister stuff. I just decided that I wanted to develop them more as true siblings as well as Troypay and Ryella obviously. So don't worry I'm not going all Rypay incest on ya. Haha.**

**Next Chapter: Christmas Day and of course the Banquet!**


	7. New Looks and New Thoughts

**Never Felt This Way**

.o.

**Note: Of course, a huge shout out to all of my wonderful reviewers, you guys are amazing! And well, here goes Christmas and then yeah, well go ahead and read! Haha.**

.o.

Gabriella awoke to find herself in an unfamiliar place. _Where am I?_

She sat up in bed and looked down at the floor where her light blue sweater lay and suddenly she remembered. _The Lodge, the party, Troy, karaoke, Ryan._

Gabriella sighed at the thought of Ryan. How she wished it were already time for the Banquet. She longed to see his bright blue eyes, his irresistible smile, his shock of blonde hair.

She rose from her bed, pushing her feet into her red slippers, and shuffled over to the window. It was a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly, making the snow dazzle and glisten. _A perfect Christmas, _Gabriella thought dreamily.

Gabriella heard _Frosty the Snowman _playing in the living room and smiled sleepily. How she loved Christmas. The music, the food, the decorations, the atmosphere.

She walked into the room and couldn't help but grin at the sight before her. The stockings filled above the fireplace and the presents laid out underneath the tree made Gabby feel elated. She couldn't help but feel excited about opening her presents. She knew it was childish but she didn't care. Christmas was herfavorite holiday. She loved every aspect of it.

"Merry Christmas, mi amor," Ms. Montez cried, wrapping Gabriella in a warm hug.

"Merry Christmas, Mama," Gabriella said back.

Gabriella ended their embrace and sat down at the kitchen table. She dug into a cinnamon roll and took a sip of hot chocolate. _The most wonderful time of the year, _she thought happily.

.o.

_The most wonderful time of the year, my ass, _Troy thought bitterly as the cheery tune burst out of his alarm-clock radio, jolting him awake.

He groaned when he realized he was rather wet in the nether region. He had had the dream he knew he would. And all he had to say was thank God he didn't remember it. He would have been seriously traumatized if he had. It was bad enough knowing he had dreamt it, but recalling every little detail was something he was grateful he couldn't do.

He hopped out of bed and raced into the bathroom that was connected to his room. He shed his boxers as he turned the water on, and stepped under the showerhead, eager to wash himself of these disgusting feelings.

.o.

"RYAN!" Sharpay screamed through Ryan's bedroom door. "Wake up! We can't open presents until you wake up, you lazy bum!"

Ryan groaned and pulled his pillow over his head. _Guess Sharpay's back to her usual self. I knew it couldn't last too long._

Ryan managed to stumble out of bed and pull a white tee over his head, before exiting his room.

He yawned and stretched his arms out. He was exhausted. He had stayed up way too late. His body was used to going to sleep at 9:00 not 1:00 in the morning.

He looked at Sharpay who sat on the sofa in front of the Christmas tree, fidgeting with anticipation. She was already camera-ready at 7:00 in the morning. Her face was done up with her usual amount of too much makeup and her hair was pulled back in a red headband. She wore a surprisingly modest red velvet jumper, with tights and black ballet flats.

"Ryan," Sharpay said disgustedly as she scanned his wrinkled shirt and baggy grey sweat pants. "You realize Mom takes pictures of us while we open our presents right?"

"Yeah," Ryan replied. "So…"

"Ryan, darling," Mrs. Evans said, as she entered the room. "Please get dressed." Sharpay smirked at him with an I-told-you-so expression on her face.

"Oh and please try to wear something a bit more… _normal,_ today."

Ryan sighed and went back into his room, shutting the door closed behind, perhaps a bit too dramatically. Hell, he was in drama, so what did they expect anyway.

What did he have that was basic?, he wondered. He thought about what guys at the party last night had been wearing. Jeans, tee shirt, boring stuff like that, he recalled.

He dug into his suitcase and found a pair of jeans Sharpay had most likely snuck in his bag in attempt to get him to wear them. He slipped into them and discovered they fit nicely. They weren't baggy so he could work with this.

Suddenly, Sharpay burst into his room, and skipped over to him. "Ryan, those look great on you!" she cried sincerely. Then changing moods she haughtily added, "I knew they would."

"Thanks for knocking," Ryan mumbled sarcastically. He reached for a red belt and began threading it through the loopholes, when Sharpay yanked the belt out of his hands.

"Hey," he cried.

"Oh no, no belts, Ryan!" Sharpay said sternly. "No color coordinating and most of all NO hats!"

Ryan glared at her. He hoped she knew he was only doing this today. No way would he ever dress so _average_ again. He was only doing this to prevent any sort of drama that may come up today. Ryan liked drama in the theater, but anywhere else, not so much.

Sharpay shoved a dark green sweater into his hands and pushed him into his bathroom. "Try this on!" she barked.

Ryan reluctantly obeyed, pulling the sweater over his wrinkled shirt. He stepped out of the bathroom.

Sharpay smiled. _Ryan looks good. No way will Gabriella be able to resist him today. She won't take another look at Troy._

"Almost perfect," Sharpay concluded. She handed him a pair of brown boots and mussed his short feathery hair around till it looked perfectly messy.

"There," Sharpay said satisfied. She steered Ryan over to the full-length mirror on the closet door. "What do you think?"

Ryan hardly recognized himself. He looked so different without a hat and brightly colored attire.

"Its all right," Ryan said dismissively. "Whatever, let's just go open presents."

Well, Sharpay couldn't say no to that.

.o.

It was evening and Gabriella stood in her closet trying to find something to wear to the banquet. She wanted to look pretty. She wanted Ryan to think she looked gorgeous.

Gabriella sighed as she held a blouse up to her small frame. _Too basic._ She continued digging through her clothes items. Then it suddenly hit her. The red dress. The red dress she had bought for a dance a few months back that she had ended up not attending. It was perfect.

Gabby slipped the red dress on. It fit her beautifully. It was modest, yet it hugged every curve of her body. She chose a pair of matching flats and pulled her hair up into a messy bun, letting a few tendrils frame her face.

Gabby had never really worn much make up. She usually wore a tad bit of gloss and touch of mascara, but she wanted to try something different.

She went to her mother's bathroom and found her makeup bag and began to rifle through it. She found a pretty brown shade of eye shadow. She applied it to her eyelids and then added heavy mascara and a touch of eyeliner. Her eyes seemed to sparkle and she liked the way the makeup brought out her eyes. Next she tried some bronzer and applied blush to the apples of her cheeks.

Gabby smiled at her reflection. She looked different. But, a good different, she thought. _I just hope I have the guts to pull off this outfit, _Gabby thought nervously.

Ms. Montez came into the bathroom, already dressed for the banquet, and saw Gabriella sitting there on the stool before the vanity.

"Gabby," she said. "Honey, you look amazing. You aren't trying to catch the attention of a certain someone are you?"

Gabby blushed. "No Mom," she said dismissively. "I just want to look nice is all. It is Christmas," she stated as if that were a reason to suddenly wear makeup and a nice dress.

"Whatever you say, Gabs," Ms. Montez said chuckling slightly. She didn't believe her for one second. The blush on Gabriella's face, the manner in which Gabby dismissed the subject, all told her that Gabby was absolutely enamored with someone.

.o.

Troy sat in his room twirling his brand new basketball on his pointer finger. He wore a blazer jacket over a button-up with slacks, per his mother's request. Seriously, why was his mother still dressing him? Why couldn't he just attend the banquet in his basketball uniform?

Why? Because then his mother would glare at him and get all upset and then his father would take away his spot on the team. A little harsh? Uh, yeah.

Troy sighed and flopped down on his bed, not caring if he wrinkled his fancy clothes. His mother would just attack him with her handy dandy steamer anyways. She always happened to find imaginary wrinkles in his clothing. OCD freak.

He hadn't let himself think of Sharpay or even Gabriella all day long, but now he allowed his thoughts to wander there.

Gabriella. Sweet, beautiful, yet didn't seem to be falling all over him. He liked the fact that she wasn't, but he wondered if that meant she didn't like him. Or, could she like him and just be one of the few girls he had come across that didn't throw herself at him.

Then there was Sharpay. Alluring, hot, yet a bit on the obsessive side. Could he really be attracted to her? Well more than physically at least. Cause he was pretty damn sure the physical attraction had been proven last night… and this morning.

Oh god, he wasn't sincerely analyzing this was he? This was so… girly. He shuddered. "Let the chips fall where they may," he mumbled to himself.

.o.

Sharpay sighed happily. What a satisfying day. What could be better than opening up beautifully decorated boxes filled with designer products after designer products?

She had spent the last hour carefully folding all of her new clothing and color coordinating everything in her closet. She had her i-Pod plugged into her portable speaker sound system and was dancing along to her favorite hip-hop and pop tracks, softly singing along, of course. It was almost time for the banquet and Sharpay could hardly wait. She loved any and all social events. And she wanted to see Troy. That was obvious. Plus, the lobster was supposed to be fabulous.

Sharpay finished her organizing and sighed. She was officially bored now. _I wonder what Ryan's doing. _She paused the music and slipped out of her room walking up to Ryan's door. She reached out for the knob, and then paused suddenly remembering it really wasn't very polite to barge in on someone. She knew she hated it when her mom did it to her. She instead knocked lightly on the door.

"Ryan," she said calmly. "Can I come in?"

Ryan sat on his bed softly strumming the strings of his brand new acoustic guitar. He paused when he heard Sharpay at his door. "Yeah," he replied.

Sharpay slipped in quietly. Ryan seemed to be very quite and peaceful today. She really shouldn't ruin his atmosphere. She was feeling nice again. She wasn't bipolar right?

"Did you need something?" Ryan asked not looking up from his guitar as he tuned it."

"Not really," Sharpay replied. "Just bored," she paused. "Getting ready for your performance?" she asked. Ms. Evans had recommended Ryan for the opening performance of the banquet. They had been looking for someone to sing a simple Christmas song accompanied by guitar to start off the event.

Sharpay would have jumped at the chance of performing solo in front of a crowd, but slow and melodic wasn't really her thing. And she couldn't play guitar either. This was definitely more Ryan's thing. She wasn't _that _jealous. OK, she was very jealous, but there wasn't anything she could do about it.

Ryan had reluctantly agreed, it would be his first solo performance, and he had been nervous about it but now he was all right with it.

At least it was Ryan and not some gorgeous girl who could sweep Troy off his face, Sharpay thought. It could've been Gabriella. Insert shudder.

"Yeah," Ryan replied sheepishly. "I'm a little nervous, but I'm pretty confident with this new guitar now."

Sharpay couldn't help but smile a little. She knew Ryan would do great. He wasn't her auditions partner for nothing.

"You'll be great, Ry," Sharpay said sweetly.

Ryan looked up at her a little shocked. _And sweet Sharpay returns for now. _"Thanks, Shar," he said. "That means a lot."

Sharpay shrugged. "You're my brother. This is what I'm supposed to do. Encourage you."

Ryan grinned at her. Knowing Sharpay had his back, took away some of the butterflies in his stomach.

He could do this.

.o.

**Ok so I know I said Christmas Day and Banquet but scratch Banquet. Haha. The Banquet will start next chapter. Lol.**

**So basically that was just setting up X-mas day and expressing everyone's thoughts, getting everything set up for the banquet. Hope it wasn't too terribly boring. Drama and sparks will fly at the banquet. I can promise that, so check it out!**


	8. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

**Never Felt This Way**

.o.

**Note: Thanks to my reviewers! And hope you like this chapter. And okay so there is a lot of fluff during Ryan's performance. Sue me. Haha. But hey we got some Gabriella jealousy and some interesting Troypay stuff. So read on!**

.o.

Gabriella entered the formal dining hall of the Lodge, where the Banquet was being held. She could feel everyone's eyes upon her as she descended the grand staircase leading into the hall. She felt a little uncomfortable. She wasn't used to being noticed. She was used to blending into the background. Maybe this outfit was a bad idea. What if she tripped and fell? Why had she worn heels?

Ryan stood behind the curtain of the stage. In a few minutes he would go on, sing his song, and then he could relax. He sighed and poked his head through the curtain, taking a look at the crowd.

His heart seemed to stop at the sight of Gabriella coming down the stairs. His eyes bugged out and he felt his mouth drop open. _Is that Gabriella?_

She looked… amazing. He took in her glossy curls, her dazzling brown eyes, and that dress. That red dress. He had always loved red.

Suddenly, Gabby's eyes met his. _Shit,_ he cursed to himself. He turned bright red and quickly slammed the curtain shut, hiding himself.

Gabriella flushed happily as she made her way to her table. She sat down next to her mother and smiled. Ryan had most definitely been looking at her. There was no question. The way he had blushed and ducked his head back in. But wait why was he backstage?

.o.

Sharpay sat at a table near the stage examining her nails. Her parents were in conversation with another couple that shared their table. She could feel the couple's 17-year-old son staring at her. Yet, she just sat there as if she were bored to death. She really didn't care if a perfectly decent looking guy was eyeing her as if he wanted her. All she could think about was Troy. When would he get here?

Troy shuffled behind his parents into the dining hall. They found their table, which coincidentally happened to be the table next to the Evans'. Troy sat down in his chair not letting himself look at Sharpay. He wouldn't look at her, he wouldn't look at her. OK, maybe a quick glance.

_Bad idea, bad idea. _Its not that Sharpay had noticed him looking at her. Oh no, she hadn't. But that one glance at Sharpay, that one peek, brought back memories of that dream he was wishing had stayed fuzzy.

Images, snapshots of this dream went flashing through his mind. _Sharpay and him entering a deserted hotel room. Him flinging her on to the bed. Her removing his shirt. Him edging his hands up the back of her dress. All the while kissing, feverishly, passionately, as though their lives depended on it. There was arching of backs, bucking of hips, toes curling under._

Troy grew warm at the thought of this dream. Oh god, had he actually dreamt that. He hopped up from his chair suddenly, his cloth napkin dropping from his lap.

"Excuse me," he mumbled. He then quickly walked out of the hall making his way to the bathroom.

Sharpay frowned. What was wrong with Troy? She started to get up, wanting to follow him, but then Ryan began making his way onto the stage. She couldn't leave now. Ryan needed her here.

.o.

Ryan took a deep breath as he walked on to the stage, guitar in hand. _It's five minutes of your life, _he told himself.

He walked towards the stool and mike stand that had been set up for him as confidently as possible. Settling himself on the stool, he allowed himself to look out at the crowd before him. There was his family beaming up at him. _They look so proud,_ he thought smiling to himself. And then there was Gabriella. _She looks so shocked, _he chuckled.

And that she was. _Ryan's performing! _She couldn't believe it. She would get to here him without Sharpay's voice harmonizing along with his. Not that Sharpay didn't have a good voice; she was just looking forward to hearing something more Ryan's style. She was pretty sure the poppy duet they had done together was arranged with Sharpay in mind.

Ryan waited for the crowd to quiet down and acknowledge his presence. When they did, he leaned towards the mike, and shyly said, "Hello, everyone and welcome to the 7th Annual Lodge Christmas Banquet. I'm Ryan Evans and I will be performing 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'."

A light smattering of clapping broke out throughout the room and Ryan blushed faintly. He began to strum his guitar, and he sang, his angelic tenor floating through the room:

_Have yourself a merry little Christmas_

_Let your heart be light_

_From now on,_

_Our troubles will be out of sight_

This whole time Ryan had kept his head down, focusing on his guitar. He realized the room had gone silent and that everyone seemed to be listening. Feeling a bit more comfortable, he raised his head up, his eyes scanning his audience.

_Have yourself a merry little Christmas_

_Make the Yuletide gay_

_From now on,_

_Our troubles will be miles away_

Gabriella was enraptured in his performance. His voice was so smooth, so honest. He didn't try to go over the top. His voice was just simply amazing. As the song, began to climax, his soulful blue eyes met hers, and she felt her heart skip a beat. The connection was so strong; she couldn't look away.

_Here we are as olden days,_

_Happy golden days of yore,_

_Faithful friends who are dear to us,_

_Gather near to us once more_

Ryan realized that for the last verse he had stayed completely focused on Gabriella. He seemed to feel not so nervous, with his gaze resting upon her. Her eyes shone with encouragement, and he could have sworn, pride in him.

_Through the years, we all will be together,_

_If the Fates allow,_

_Hang a shining star upon the highest bough,_

_And have yourself a merry little Christmas now_

As Ryan's final note faltered out, applause began to rupture from the audience. He blushed and sheepishly ducked his head down. He couldn't help but grin broadly as he walked off the stage, applause still ringing out from all sides of the room.

The room began to bustle about after Ryan's performance. Everyone began to eat and socialize. The atmosphere was alive with the spirit of Christmas.

Ryan began walking over to his family's table when he felt an arm reach out and grab his elbow. _Gabriella,_ Ryan thought happily as he turned around to face the person who had stopped him.

His smile faded when he realized it wasn't Gabby. Instead two giggling girls in tight black dresses stood before him, flashing their bright white teeth and batting their fake eyelashes.

"Do I know you?" Ryan asked when the girls just stood there, saying nothing.

The girls began to giggle even more obnoxiously. One of them stepped forward, smacking on pink chewing gum while she twirled her long brown hair.

"You were so good," she squealed. "Like, that is one of my most favorite songs ever!"

Ryan plastered a huge smile on his face, while internally screaming GET ME OUTTA HERE! "Thank you, now if you'll excu…"

The other girl had walked up to him as well, and now rested her hand on his chest keeping him from escaping. "Not so fast there. Don't you wanna come sit with us?"

"I…uh," Ryan faltered nervously.

Meanwhile, Gabriella had been watching Ryan the entire time. She wanted those girls to get away from Ryan, now! Letting her jealousy take over, she marched right up to Ryan and his "groupies". Slipping her arm around Ryan's waist and leaning her head against his chest, she said, "Ryan, honey, there you are! I've been looking everywhere!"

Ryan looked down at Gabriella in shock. What was she doing? Then he realized her motive, and winked at her discreetly. Playing along he affectionately kissed the top of her head replying, "Well now you've found me!"

The two girls exchanged disgusted looks.

So the hot musician in the boot-cut jeans was taken. Bummer.

"Uh guess not," one of the girls mumbled haughtily as Gabby steered Ryan away from them.

Sharpay glanced over at Ryan who was walking arm in arm with Gabriella. _He looks rather preoccupied right now, _Sharpay decided. _A congratulatory hug can wait if he isn't!_

Sharpay stood up exclaiming, "Going to powder my nose." She grabbed her black velvet clutch and made her way to the restrooms. Hmmm, I wonder whom she's going to visit?

Gabriella guided Ryan over to a sitting area in the center of the room and the two collapsed on a couch trying desperately not to burst out laughing.

They both kept glancing at each other their eyes twinkling mischievously, their faces red from suppressing their laughter. Finally the two let it out, laughing as quietly as they possibly could, not wanting the attention of the entire room, and especially not wanting the attention of the girls they had just left behind.

"Gosh, you really saved me out there, Gabs," Ryan said affectionately, his voice filled with gratitude. "However can I repay you?," he added lightheartedly.

Gabby's heart swelled with joy at yet another nickname slipping from Ryan's mouth. _Oh I can think of lots of things you could do, _she thought longingly.

"Oh it was nothing," Gabriella replied, laughing it off. "I could tell you were uncomfortable and I decided to help you out. No need to repay me."

"Well I am immensely grateful," he said. "And you know what, I know what I can do. How about tomorrow I take you out for ice cream? Any flavor! I'll even let you pick a topping."

_Is he asking me out?_, Gabriella wondered. Was this something that was merely two friends hanging out or was it an actual date?

.o.

Sharpay made her way down the corridor, her black flats clicking on the sleek wooden floors. She turned sharply around the corner and then softened her steps, quietly reaching the bathrooms. She stood there in front of the water fountains debating what to do. Should she walk into the men's restroom and surprise Troy? Or would she play it safe and go back to the party?

_Oh what the hell! _Sharpay marched into the restroom and found Troy slumped down on the floor, his head leaning against the wall, eyes closed. He looked so adorable. His hair was all mussed up as if he had been running his hands through it unconsciously and half of his dress shirt had some how come untucked and it stuck out of his blazer awkwardly. He was a mess. Yet, a beautiful mess, Sharpay concluded.

She sat down carefully beside him, adjusting her legs modestly. She carefully tapped him on the shoulder and whispered, "Troy, are you okay?"

Troy jumped a little at the sound of Sharpay's voice. Was he dreaming? He cocked his head to the side, opening one eye, and looked at her, confusedly. "Sharpay," he whispered, not believing it was truly her sitting next to him.

"Yeah," Sharpay replied. He had stated her name so questioningly she wondered if he even knew who she was!

Troy sat up straighter and leaned his head forward looking at Sharpay more closely. She seemed real. He reached out and touched her black-tight-covered knee. Then drew his hand back sharply. Yep, she was real. _I must look like a complete idiot, _he groaned inwardly.

Sharpay gave him a crazy look. Wow, what was up with him? He seemed a little strung out, but Troy wasn't like that so she knew he couldn't be.

"Troy," Sharpay said slowly. "Are you O-K-A-Y?"

"Uh yeah, yeah," Troy said coolly, trying to brush off the fact that he had just touched her knee for some odd reason. God, she probably thought he was high or something.

"Are you sure?" Sharpay asked concerned. "You're looking a little crazy." She grabbed the corner of his untidy dress shirt and then dropped it, indicating what she met.

"Oh, uhhh…" Troy said looking down at his clothes. When the hell had he started looking like shit? He hopped up and started to attempt to tuck his shirt back in as neatly as possible.

Sharpay felt awkward sitting on the floor below him, so she stood up as well, folding her thin arms across her chest nervously.

Troy ran his fingers through his hair and gave a slight chuckle, "I'm just out of sorts today."

Sharpay gave a small smile, not truly believing that he was really telling her what was going on. Not that she expected it. I mean, they really didn't know each other at all, even though they had been going to school together for years. They just ran with different crowds.

Troy sure was "out of sorts." Something came over him. Maybe it was the way she truly looked concerned for him, maybe it was the fact that she looked so vulnerable standing there hugging herself. He didn't know, but all of sudden, he was leaning over, he was pressing his lips to hers. It was one peck, one simple kiss. Nothing touching except their lips, Sharpay's arms still folded, Troy's down by his sides.

Sharpay was so shocked, she didn't even respond to the kiss. She just stood there feeling the pressure of his lips against hers. And it felt good, it felt so good.

Troy pulled away and then turned red. "I…uhh.." he stammered. And then he was gone, out the door, without any explanation as to why he had just kissed her.

Sharpay sunk slowly back down to the ground. Had he really just done that? She reached her hand up to her lips, dumbfounded. What did this mean?

.o.

**Allrighty then, so hope everyone enjoyed this! Next chapter: Does someone else have their eye on Sharpay? And will Gabby agree to Ryan's ice cream "date"?**


	9. Make This Dance Floor Hot

**Never Felt This Way**

.o.

**Note: Thanks for the reviews! Excited to see some new people are reading my story! Thanks so much! Both of the songs in this chapter are by Michael Buble! Thanks Michael! First one is **_**Sway**_** and the second is **_**Save The Last Dance For Me. **_**I highly recommend you listen to these songs on YouTube or something while you read so everything makes sense!**

.o.

Troy walked quickly back to the dining hall his heart pounding nervously. Was Sharpay right behind him? He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes flickering over the expanse of hall behind him. He was alone. _Sharpay must be in the bathroom still, _he concluded.

He calmed a little as he walked back to his seat. Sitting down, he groaned internally when his mother turned to him, a worried expression on her face.

"Troy, darling where have you been?" she questioned. Then upon noticing his flushed face, she added, "Are you all right? You aren't coming down with something are you?" She reached her hand up and felt Troy's forehead.

"I'm fine, Mom," he muttered annoyed as he swiped her hand away. _Could she possibly get anymore embarrassing? _Oh, she could!

Rummaging through her handbag, she pulled out an old-fashioned thermometer and proceeded to stick the device in between Troy's lips. "Keep it in for a whole minute," she added sternly, as if she were speaking to a baby and not a junior in high school.

Troy rolled his eyes, and spit the thermometer out. He wasn't gonna keep this thing in his mouth. They were in public for God's sake.

"I told you, I'm fine," he said aggravated. He threw the thermometer back in the open bag on her lap and slumped down in his chair, his arms folded across his chest.

"Well, all right then," his mother muttered haughtily, as she turned back to the conversation she had been having with the others at their table.

.o.

Gabriella, who had been looking down pondering what Ryan had just asked, lifted her head back up and shyly looked into Ryan's eyes. His bright blue eyes danced with earnest eagerness as he awaited her answer.

Gabby gave him a huge smile and replied, "Sounds like a plan."

Ryan gave a huge sigh of fake relief and wiped invisible sweat off his brow. "Wow, for a minute there I thought you were gonna decline."

He smiled when she giggled. How he loved to make her laugh! It was odd how great he felt when he caused her to smile or laugh. He had never felt this way about anyone before. Could he really be falling for her?

"So, I'll come by your room say about… three-ish. There's a great ice cream parlor on the fifth floor. It's like an old-fashioned soda shop. It's amazing!" he babbled enthusiastically.

_He looks so cute when he gets excited. _"I can't wait," Gabby replied sincerely.

_Me neither, _Ryan realized. "Well I better get back to my table," he said sighing. _Back to conversation about how wonderful the filet mignon is and how quaint the decorations are._

Gabby sighed as well. "Me too. But maybe we'll meet up again… later this evening," she added hopefully.

"Well we'll have to," Ryan replied his eyes twinkling. "You are my girlfriend for the evening. It would look odd if I didn't speak with you for the rest of the night."

Gabby blushed. She had completely forgotten about the whole thing. "Yes, very odd," she reasoned, nodding her head mock sincerely. "See you _soon_," she said, emphasizing soon.

With one last searing look, Ryan turned around and headed back to his table while Gabby sadly returned to hers.

.o.

Sharpay pulled herself up off the floor of the bathroom and sighed. _I better go back now. _She walked slowly out of the bathroom and down the hall. She reached her table and took a seat next to Ryan. She glanced over at Troy whose back was turned to her. She could tell that he knew she had come back in the room. His ears were tinted red with embarrassment. _He must be as confused as I am._

"Where have you been Shar?" Ryan asked her.

"Oh, uh, the bathroom. Refreshing my makeup," she replied.

"By the way, Ry, you were awesome!" Sharpay added, leaning over to give Ryan a quick hug.

"Thanks," Ryan said beaming.

As soon as this moment passed, both of the Evans twins slipped into a comfortable silence, each sadly thinking about their parents. Ryan thinking about the fact that his parents were too busy to even acknowledge his performance and Sharpay thinking about the fact that her parents hadn't even noticed she had been in the bathroom for twenty minutes. And then they both thought, thank God they have each other.

.o.

Gabriella nibbled at the fancy meal before her wistfully watching the couples dancing about the ballroom section of the hall. How she longed to dance with Ryan. What a perfect Christmas moment. Slow dancing with Ryan to the pianist playing old-fashioned carols. She sighed happily at the thought of it.

Sharpay glanced over at Gabriella. She saw that she was admiring the pairs of dancers. Sharpay smiled and turned to Ryan, "Ryan, you should ask Gabriella to dance?"

"What?" Ryan said flustered, glancing over at Gabriella quickly. "I couldn't!"

"No you should! I guarantee she would say yes."

"Well maybe. I am her pretend boyfriend."

"What?"

"It's a long story."

"Okay," Sharpay said confused. "You can tell me later. Now go!" she whispered, giving him a small push in Gabby's direction.

Ryan propelled forward with Sharpay's push almost tripping, but regained his balance. He strode over to Gabriella.

Gabriella's eyes lit up when she saw Ryan heading over to her. _Why is he coming over here?, _she wondered excitedly.

"Uh, I was wondering if you'd like to dance… with me, you know since…" Ryan began but was interrupted.

"I'd love too!" Gabriella gushed out.

"Great," Ryan replied, sighing with relief.

He held his hand out to her and Gabriella took it, letting him lift her up out of the chair.

Still holding her hand, Ryan guided her over to the dance floor, finding an open spot.

When they reached the floor the pianist suddenly stopped. They glanced at each other, confused.

A man standing to the side of the dance floor with a microphone began to speak. "Thank you to our pianist, Melissa Grant. Now we have a very special guest who will be singing a variety of music for us this evening. Please welcome Henry Hutchinson."

Ryan and Gabriella clapped politely and noticed a whole band was being set up behind Henry. _I guess the holiday music is over, _Gabriella thought sadly. A poppy song with a mambo beat began to blast out from the band. _This is not a slow dance,_ Gabriella thought nervously.

Ryan grinned. He excelled at fast-paced salsa dancing. The mambo, the tango, he could do it all. _Wow, who would have thought all of those ballroom dancing classes I took with Sharpay would come in handy for anything besides school musicals._

"Ryan," Gabriella whispered. "I can't dance like this."

"Sure you can," he said encouragingly. "Come on, just follow my lead."

Feeling confident, Ryan stepped up to Gabriella, placing his right hand on her waist and holding his left arm out. Gabriella shuddered excitedly at Ryan's touch. Ryan met her eyes, smiling. "Now you put your left hand on my shoulder and your right hand will meet my left out here."

Gabriella did as she was told and as Henry began to sing, Ryan rocked back on his feet urging Gabriella to move her feet forward. "I go backwards you go forward, I go forward you go backwards," he instructed in a low voice.

Henry began to sing as the pair _swayed _to the music:

_When marimba rhythms start to play_

_Dance with me, make me sway_

_Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore_

_Hold me close, sway me more_

Ryan spun Gabriella out and then expertly pulled her back in, his hand on the small of her back as he held her close to him.

Gabriella fought back the urge to moan. Pressed up against Ryan, she felt ecstatic. She wanted to stay like this forever. Yet, Ryan pulled back, much to Gabby's disappointment and took both his hands in hers. He began to swivel his hips from side to side, his feet expertly moving to the beat, while Gabby tried to follow.

_Like a flower bending in the breeze_

_Bend with me, sway with ease_

_When you dance you have a way with me_

_Stay with me, sway with me_

Ryan guided Gabby's hands to his shoulders and he then brought his hands back to Gabby's waist, placing each hand on her hips. He leaned over and whispered into Gabriella's ear heavily, "You're doing great. Just feel the rhythm, move to it."

_Other dancers may be on the floor_

_Dear, but my eyes will see only you_

_Only you have that magic technique_

_When we sway I go weak_

Gabriella feeling more comfortable with the dancing, let go of her insecurities and began to move confidently to the music.

Ryan grinned at her. She was getting good. Now that she had let go of her inhibitions, he couldn't help but notice how sexily the Spanish beauty moved to the music.

_I can hear the sounds of violins_

_Long before it begins_

_Make me thrill as only you know how_

_Sway me smooth, sway me now_

The song continued on and soon the crowd was watching the blonde and Latina dancing together. They fit well together and the crowd could feel the passion and chemistry radiating from the pair.

Sharpay smiled. Ryan looked good. He always could dance so well. She knew by pushing him onto the dance floor, she could break him out of his shell. _Gabriella won't be able to resist him now. I don't even have to worry about her anymore._

Troy watched Ryan and Gabriella. By the looks in their eyes, he could tell they wanted more than anything to just rip each other's clothes off. Why did he feel jealous about this? Did he still like Gabriella? But what about Sharpay? _Arghhh, _Troy thought angrily.

As the song came to an end, Ryan dipped Gabriella back smoothly and then brought her back up, bringing her back into him closely. They stood there, their bodies pressed up against each other, shining with sweat, He wondered if she could here his heart thumping wildly inside his chest. That was how close they were.

Their eyes met as they looked lustfully at each other. Both were breathing heavily, their hearts pounding in there heaving chests. They felt as if they were the only ones in the room. They didn't even notice the pairs of eyes that followed their every move. Uh, yeah, all eyes are on you, guys!

Ryan couldn't resist himself, he couldn't hold his emotions back. He was so attracted to her right now, so completely and utterly attracted to her. He was itching with the sexual frustration of it all. He wanted to rip that beautiful red dress of hers off right then and there. But hello, its not like he could!

Instead he settled for something a bit more innocent. Leaning forward, he captured her lips, his eyes closing with the sheer pleasure of it all. This was helping.

Gabriella gasped into Ryan's lips. She couldn't believe he was kissing her! She could feel that he wanted this, he needed this. The kiss was so powerful. She wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the passionate kiss.

_Holy crap, let's hope they can keep this PG,_ Troy thought bitterly. Why was this making him jealous? He didn't understand this at all.

Sharpay smiled devilishly. _Oh I have absolutely nothing to worry about. _Yet her smile faded when she saw how angry Troy looked at the couple's kiss.

Applause rung out from the Hall, the partygoers clapping for all of the pairs who had been dancing, but especially Ryan and Gabriella. The pair broke apart; each reddening as they finally (god they are so oblivious lol) realized everyone was watching them.

_Well if anyone thought I was gay, they definitely know I'm not now, _Ryan thought to himself, chuckling. _So I just kissed Gabriella in front of the entire hotel? So what? I am her "boyfriend" after all._

_Oh gosh, everyone just watched me have my first kiss, _Gabriella thought. _I hope it wasn't obvious._

Ryan grabbed Gabriella's hand and led her off the dance floor. "Follow me," he whispered to her as they walked into the hallway.

.o.

"That was so much better than Dirty Dancing!" a girl at the table next to Sharpay's exclaimed.

Sharpay giggled. _Who knew Ryan would become such a stud!_

The boy at Sharpay's table who had been staring longingly at her stood up and shyly walked up to Sharpay. He held his hand out to her and asked in a quiet voice, "Would you like to dance?"

Sharpay looked over at Troy who looked angered at the thought of Sharpay dancing with this boy. _This is sure to make him forget about Gabriella._

"Love to," Sharpay said sweetly, taking his hand and letting him lead her to the floor.

She glanced back at Troy smiling smugly, and he glared back at her.

_Two can play this game. _Troy hopped out of his chair and looked around the room. Gabriella would have been the perfect person to make Sharpay jealous but she was nowhere to be found. He spotted a gorgeous girl sitting by herself. He walked up to her, flashing his signature smile. "Care to dance?" he asked, holding his arm out.

The girl smiled at him and took his arm. "OK," she murmured shyly, as he took her to the dance floor, purposefully choosing a spot near Sharpay and that bastard she was dancing with.

Both pairs began to dance as Henry began the next song:

_You can dance-every dance with the guy_

_Who gives you the eye, let him hold you tight_

_You can smile-every smile for the man_

_Who held your hand 'neath the pale moonlight_

_But don't forget who's takin' you home_

_And in whose arms you're gonna be_

_So darlin' save the last dance for me_

Sharpay flashed the boy a dazzling smile as they danced, causing him to blush furiously. _Awww the poor thing has probably never had a girl like me pay attention to him. _"What's your name?" she asked, flirting with him.

"Uh, Oliver, my name's Oliver," he answered stuttering slightly.

"Oliver," Sharpay repeated, biting her lower lip. "I like that name."

_Oh I know that the music's fine_

_Like sparklin' wine, go and have your fun_

_Laugh and sing, but while we're apart_

_Don't give your heart to anyone_

_But don't forget who's takin' you home_

_And in whose arms you're gonna be_

_So darlin' save the last dance for me_

Troy glared over at Sharpay. She was doing this to annoy him. Troy took a look at the girl he was dancing with. She was very pretty, with her long brown hair and dazzling green eyes. He smiled at her. "I'm Troy. And you are-"

"Emma," the girl answered meekly.

"Nice to meet you."

He saw Sharpay brush her chest up against the lug's quivering body. _Ok that's the last straw._

Fuming he left Emma and walked over to the boy, tapping him on the shoulder. "May I cut?" he asked, pushing him out of the way. He threw his arms angrily around Sharpay's waist and Sharpay shocked, placed hers around Troy's neck. _I can't believe he just butted in. Poor Oliver. _But Sharpay quickly forgot about Oliver and let Troy dance with her.

_Baby don't you know I love you so_

_Can't you feel it when we touch_

_I will never ,never let you go_

_I love you oh so much_

Sharpay shook herself. She couldn't give in so easily. She shrugged Troy off and walked back over to Oliver who had began dancing with Emma. "May I cut in?" she asked, grabbing Oliver's hands and placing them on her hips, resuming dance with him. Troy, shocked, stomped back over to Emma, and threw his arms around her waist, much to the girl's shock. Both pairs danced to the rest of the songs, looks of jealousy passing between Troy and Sharpay.

_You can dance, go and carry on_

_Till the night is gone_

_And it's time to go_

_If he asks if you're all alone_

_Can he walk you home, you must tell him no_

_'Cause don't forget who's taking you home_

_And in whose arms you're gonna be_

_Save the last dance for me_

_'Cause don't forget who's taking you home_

_And in whose arms you're gonna be_

_So darling, save the last dance for me_

_Save the last dance for me_

_Save the last dance for me._

As soon as the song ended, Troy let go of Emma. "Thanks for dancing with me," he told her, sweetly. He felt a little guilty. But he was too angry right now to acknowledge his guilt. He charged over to Sharpay, grabbing her hand and pulling her away from Oliver.

"We need to talk, NOW!" he whispered furiously as he dragged her out of the room, leaving both Oliver and Emma stunned.

.o.

**All right so some interesting things happened in this chapter! Haha. Hope you liked it! I thought it was time to heat things up a little bit more.**

**Next chapter: What will happen between our two favorite couples in the hallowed halls of the Lodge?**


	10. Joy to Some of the World

**Never Felt This Way**

.o.

**Note: Thank you reviewers as always! You guys are amazing to take the time to review.**

.o.

Ryan led Gabriella out into the hallway, his heart still beating rapidly. Merely touching her hand gave him goose bumps.

_Where is he taking me? _Gabriella wondered, excitedly. There was something so exhilarating about Ryan. Every time she spent time with him, she found out something new about him. He was so _mysterious, _so full of surprises. She couldn't wait to see what happened next.

.o.

Troy's hand gripped Sharpay's tightly as he forcefully dragged her out of the room and down the long hall.

"You're scuffing my flats!" Sharpay snarled angrily. Oh come on, she was secretly pleased that she now had Troy's undivided attention. It was pretty obvious at the fact that the corners of her mouth slightly turned up while she screamed at him dramatically. Go ahead, try to hide that smile.

Troy continued down the hall, ignoring Sharpay's screams. The more he ignored her, the more Sharpay screamed and the more Sharpay screamed, the more turned on Troy became. Um, ewww, TMI anyone.

Troy stopped suddenly in front of a door. He pushed the door open a crack. The room appeared to be a room for business meetings and organizations. The only pieces of furniture in the room were a long wooden table and a ton of regal leather chairs surrounding it.

_Perfect, _Troy thought. _A private room, where we can sort things out._

Sharpay peered in the room, perplexed. _What the hell?_ _What is this, a conference room? I thought we were going to a hotel room or something._

Troy pulled Sharpay into the room and closed the door shut behind them.

Standing right in front of Sharpay, Troy yelled, "Why did you dance with that idiot Oliver?"

Sharpay glared at him and retorted, "Why did you ask Emma to dance?"

"Hey, I only asked Emma to dance because you were dancing with that asshole!"

Sharpay smiled, pleased with his answer. "So you only asked Emma to dance because you were _jealous _of me and Oliver?"

Troy turned red and managed to spit out, "And you weren't trying to make me jealous! Come on, you were practically mauling the guy!"

Troy grinned as Sharpay's face also turned a deep crimson color.

"Well it obviously worked!" Sharpay shouted, trying to recover from Troy's dig.

Is it just me or are things getting hot in here?

.o.

Ryan couldn't stop imagining what it would be like to kiss Gabriella again. This time longer, slower, sweeter.

_You have to a gentleman, you have to be charming, you have to be romantic_, Ryan told himself.

_Do I know where we're going? _He wondered still leading Gabriella through the hotel hallways.

Ryan looked to his left and spotted a pair of huge white doors, light spilling out of the crack beneath the doors.

He let go of Gabriella's hand and used both of his hands to pull open the giant doors.

_So it's a ballroom. I can work with this. _Ryan thought. _Channel romanticism._

Gabriella walked into the ballroom behind Ryan. The entire room was done up in white and silver. Snowflakes hung from the ceiling and white roses were everywhere. Obviously a very romantic Christmas wedding had happened today.

"What are we doing?" Gabriella asked Ryan.

"You'll see," Ryan answered, smiling at her as if he had some wonderful secret.

_Could he be any cuter? _Gabriella asked herself, grinning back him. Oh, he can.

He walked over to a stereo and shuffled through the box of CD's. _There has to be holiday music in here. I mean, it's Christmas. Aha! This is perfect!_

Ryan placed the CD in the stereo skipping to number 7, one of his favorite Christmas songs, "I'll Be Home for Christmas".

Ryan walked over to Gabriella taking both of her hands and pulling her into the center of the ballroom.

"I know you were kinda uncomfortable about the whole salsa dancing thing. Even though, rest assured, you were great! But I thought it would be nice to do something a little more familiar, a dance you're comfortable with," Ryan said.

Gabriella smiled radiantly. How could Ryan have known how badly she wanted to just slow dance with him to a romantic Christmas carol? He was so wonderful, so perfect! Where had a guy like him been her entire life?

"May I have this dance?" Ryan asked her playfully, pulling her close to him.

Gabriella rested her head on Ryan's steady shoulder. Now this was more like it. She had enjoyed their salsa dancing to some extent, but truly the heat, the passion, the desire had scared her. She had no idea that she was capable of feeling that way about someone. This was sweeter, more innocent, more her style. She liked to take things slow. At least, she thought she did.

Ryan sighed happily, loving the weight of Gabriella leaning against him. He was so blissed out that without even realizing it he began to sing along to the song. He played with Gabriella's soft curls and cooed softly in her ear:

_Christmas Eve will find me_

_Where the lovelight gleams_

_I'll be home for Christmas_

_If only in my dreams_

Gabriella shuddered happily as Ryan's warm breath met her ear. She wanted to turn her head and let her lips capture his, but instead she savored the moment. I mean, how many guys in the world would sing softly and sweetly just for you, in a voice meant for only you to hear.

.o.

Troy looked Sharpay straight in the eyes, "So what if I was jealous." He stated it simply as if he had liked her all along.

It was rather sexy actually. So sexy, Sharpay couldn't hold back any longer. She grabbed his head, pulling him towards her and pressed her lips against his. _She_ was gonna kiss _him_ this time.

Troy was shocked, but rather pleased at the turn of events. He kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her waist. Suddenly, Sharpay pulled away. Troy looked at her quizzically and removed his hands from her waist.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"What does this mean?" Sharpay asked him.

"What do you mean, what does this mean?" Troy asked chuckling a little. "I'd say it means we like to kiss each other."

"Well yeah," Sharpay said sadly, "But I mean what does _all _of this mean? What are we?"

"I don't know," Troy answered truthfully. The guy was still torn between her and Gabriella. Come on; make up your freaking mind!

Sharpay had a hurt expression on her face now. _What does he mean, I don't know? Don't you just know?_

"Well until you know, don't bother me!" Sharpay cried angrily as she exited the room.

Troy watched her leave. He wanted to do something kiss her, hug her. Yet, maybe it was better that they have some space. It really wasn't fair of him to lead her on, when he had feelings for Gabriella. He sighed sadly, lowering himself into one of the leather chairs, contemplating his feelings.

Sharpay stormed down the hall, her flats clicking noisily on the wooden floors. She paused in the middle of the hallway, hoping to hear a certain boy's shoes clicking down the hall after her. Yet, the hallway was silent.

.o.

Ryan had had the best night of his life so far. Spending the entire evening with a beautiful girl, dancing! Even getting to kiss her. What more could a guy ask for?

Gabriella tucked her chin over Ryan's shoulder feeling completely relaxed. The music had ended a long time ago, yet they were still dancing. Ryan provided the music. He had been singing carol after carol from _Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer _to _Hark the Herald Angels_. And you know what, he was _so _much better than the CD.

Ryan chuckled a little bit and whispered into Gabriella's ear, "I can't think of any more songs."

Gabriella giggled and whispered back, "Kiss me Ryan."

"What?" Ryan replied, his voice low and shaky. He didn't know why he felt so nervous. He had just kissed her an hour ago.

"Kiss me," she whispered simply again, lifting her head up and facing him.

Ryan smiled at her weakly and did as he was told. His gentle hands cupping her face, he brushed his lips against hers.

How Gabriella loved the way Ryan kissed. It was so loving, so tender. He wasn't trying to eat her face off like she had seen guys at her school do to girlfriends.

Ryan pulled away from her after one kiss, wrapping his arms around her. They stood there holding each other, their foreheads touching, each wearing a goofy lovesick grin.

Gabriella leaned in and kissed his cute little nose. She had longed to do that.

Ryan wrinkled his nose a little after she kissed it and Gabriella laughed. He was so adorable.

Ryan smiled and kissed her soft cheek.

Gabriella sighed with pleasure and whispered, "I feel like I've known you forever."

Ryan nodded, "It's hard to believe we only met just yesterday."

"Where do you live?" Gabriella asked.

"New Mexico," Ryan replied. "You?"

New Mexico. How Gabriella hated that state! Memories of her having to move there and live there after this vacation swelled inside her. She had completely forgotten about New Mexico! She had been so preoccupied with thoughts of Ryan, she hadn't even thought about it the past few days. She refused to believe she would be living there.

"New York," Gabriella replied. Well it was the truth. In her heart, New York would always be her true home. It was where her heart was. Are you sure about that Gabs?

"Wow, I bet you get to go to all of the great Broadway plays!" Ryan exclaimed, excitedly, as the pair walked over to a table, sitting down. The thought that they lived so far away from each other saddened Ryan. But he hardly expected this would go much further. With his luck, Gabriella would wake up tomorrow and realize it was Troy she wanted, not Ryan. What had she been thinking?, she would wonder.

Gabriella smiled sadly. "Yeah." She would miss New York so much. No more subways, no more taxis, no more Central Park. What did New Mexico have anyway? Uh, hello! Ryan!

.o.

Troy banged his head down on the large table. He was an idiot! An absolute idiot! Why couldn't he choose? I mean he had to like one of them better. Besides, did he really even have a chance with Gabriella? It seemed Ryan was sweeping her off her feet. And now he had fucked up things with Sharpay. Now, he would just be a lonely loser. Sharpay would have that idiot Oliver and Ryan and Gabriella would be skipping around the hotel like little love birds and well… hey… what about that Emma girl?

Troy hopped out of his chair and ran back to the Banquet. _Emma. _Emma could work. Emma would solve his problems. If he could get himself to like Emma, then he wouldn't have to choose between Sharpay and Gabriella. He would just have neither of them and then everyone would be happy!

Happy? Maybe Gabriella since she never really liked you in the first place that much, but Sharpay! Hello! The girl would kill for you! She ain't gonna be happy with this!

.o.

Sharpay walked back into the Banquet Hall and sat back down at her table. Unfortunately, the only seat available sat her right next to Oliver. Aw shit, now she felt guilty. Guilty and angry and sad! This was not a very merry Christmas.

Oliver looked at her quickly and then glanced away. _Poor guy, _Sharpay thought. He really was kinda cute in a scrawny, innocent way. He had dark feathery brown hair that was short, and dark brown eyes. His skin was almost as pale as Ryan's. _I don't think anyone can beat Ryan._

_You know what, Oliver and Emma would make an adorable couple! I should set them up. I can make it up to them after what me and Troy did to them._

"Oliver," Sharpay began in a sincerely sorry tone (shocking I know) began, "I'm really sorry about earlier."

"It's ok," Oliver replied sheepishly. He then added quietly, "It was worth it to dance with you for a little while."

Sharpay couldn't help but smile a little at that. This kid was pretty cute and he seemed to like her a lot. Too bad, she was into Troy or this guy could've had a chance.

.o.

Ryan could sense she was sad. He wondered why. _Oh well, time to change the subject._

"So are you an only child?" he asked.

"Yep," Gabriella replied, glad for the change of topic. "It's just me and Mom."

"That sounds nice," Ryan replied. "Being a twin isn't all its cracked up to be. Especially when your twin is Sharpay."

Gabriella laughed. "Yeah, Sharpay seems a little… intense."

"Well that's the understatement of the year!" Ryan replied jokingly. "You get used to her," he added.

Gabriella nodded. She was sure Ryan got to see a side of Sharpay she didn't really reveal to others.

Suddenly Ms. Montez poked her head into the ballroom and said, "There you are Gabriella! I've been looking for you everywhere. Say goodnight to Ryan," she added a small smile on her face.

Gabriella sighed sadly, standing up. She already had to go.

Ryan stood up as well, wrapping Gabriella in a sweet embrace and kissing her hand, suavely. "Tomorrow," he whispered in an exciting secretive manner.

"Tomorrow," she repeated as she walked away with her mother, smiling sweetly as she walked out of his sight.

Ryan sighed happily, and walked over to one of the huge windows in the ballroom. Looking out at the snow covered mountains, he thought about, what else, Gabriella. He couldn't wait until tomorrow. He reached up to adjust his hat and found only his short blonde spikes. _I wonder if Gabriella likes me better in hats or without, _he wondered.

.o.

Troy waltzed into the Banquet hall, finding Emma in a corner of the room, seated on a bench. He sat down right beside her, startling her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked shyly.

"I wanted to apologize about earlier. That was pretty messed up," he said his blue eyes looking into her green ones, hoping for forgiveness.

Who can resist those eyes? Emma nodded, giving him a small smile, "Its all right."

"Great," he said sweetly. "How about I make it up to you? Why don't we go do something tomorrow? What do you like to do?"

Emma smiled. Troy was really cute. He was really trying to make it up to her. "OK. How about we see a movie?"

"A movie! Perfect! Let's meet at the theater on the 9th floor at… say… 4. We can decide what to watch there."

"Sounds great."

Troy smiled and took her hand, squeezing it gently. She was pretty, she was sweet. He could like this girl right? He could forget about Sharpay and Gabriella.

.o.

Sharpay smiled at Oliver and kissed his cheek softly. He turned red and she giggled a little.

"You know what, I bet we could be really great friends," Sharpay said sweetly.

Oliver's face fell a little. He really liked Sharpay. He didn't wanna be just friends.

Sharpay looked around the room for Emma. She wanted to throw them together and see what happened. She finally spotted Emma, except Emma wasn't alone like she had anticipated. Sharpay wanted to scream at the sight of Emma holding hands with Troy. She couldn't believe him. First Gabriella, now she had Emma to compete with.

So she did the only rational thing she could think of: kiss Oliver.

Hell, I'm sure he enjoyed it, but was that really such a smart move?

Sure they could be friends. Or more.

.o.

**Okey dokey, Troypayers don't kill me. Lol. Troypay is endgame still. So now, Oliver and Emma are like secondary characters, I'm not sure if they'll be all throughout the rest of the story. We'll see. And Ryella is really cute right now, not sure if they'll stay that way. It may get boring if I don't screw them up a little. Haha. Hope you liked it!**


	11. Operation: MTTBBJ

**Never Felt This Way**

.o.

**Note: The reviews were great! I loved your feedback! Thanks so much for reading! So this chapter is pretty random, haha. I wrote all of it at late hours on different nights, so it's a little wacky.**

.o.

Sharpay jolted awake, pushing her glittery pink eye mask up onto her forehead and sitting up in bed. She had just had the most horrible nightmare. Troy had been holding hands with Emma. And in retaliation she had kissed Oliver. And then Troy had seen them and looked almost as hurt as she felt. And she could have sworn she heard Troy and Emma talking about some kind of "date" they were having.

Sharpay groaned realizing all of that had _actually _happened. Must her life be so complicated!

Sharpay glanced over at the digital clock on the bedside table. 6:00 AM. There was no way she was going back to bed. She had to figure out what to do. She couldn't let Troy go on that date with Emma. Ok, so she couldn't really stop that, but she had to at least know what happened on their date!

_Ryan should be awake by now. _Sharpay leapt out of bed, pushed her feet into her fuzzy purple slippers, and ran into the living room. Ryan sat on the couch eating some sugary cereal she wouldn't be caught dead eating. Hello calories!

"Ryan!" Sharpay shout-whispered at him, plopping down on the sofa next to him.

Ryan jumped almost spilling his cereal. "What the hell are you doing up so early?"

"No reason," Sharpay replied nonchalantly. _I can't ask him, I really can't! _"What _are _you watching?"

Ryan chuckled. "Some stupid cartoon. Not much is on at 6:00 A.M. you know? You do know its 6 right?"

"Yes I know its 6!" Sharpay responded, irritated. _Honestly, am I not allowed to be awake at this hour?_

"All right, all right," Ryan replied coolly. "Want some?" he asked, holding a spoonful of soggy Lucky Charms out to her.

"Ewww, no!" Sharpay cried, pushing the spoon out of her face.

"Fine, more for me!" Ryan said as he shoved the cereal in his mouth. "Mmmmm," he emphasized.

Sharpay looked at the cereal longingly. _Maybe one bite wouldn't hurt. _"Oh hell, give me some!" She grabbed the spoon from him, shoveling the cereal into her mouth, greedily.

"Uh, I'll go get the box, I guess," Ryan said as he got up, surrendering his cereal to Sharpay.

Ryan returned to the couch, cereal box in his hands. He carefully sat down on the couch, not wanting to disturb his sister's gorging fest.

He examined the back of the cereal box. Sure enough silly little games and puzzles were printed all over the back. He found himself all ready trying to determine which picture didn't belong with the bunch. _Damn, these things are addicting._

Sharpay snatched the box out of Ryan hands, dumping the rest of its contents into the red bowl.

"Hey!" Ryan cried. "I was reading that!"

"Please don't tell me you were playing those idiotic activities on the back of the box," Sharpay replied, rolling her eyes.

"Maybe I was!" Ryan responded, defensively.

"You are such a little kid," Sharpay exclaimed, laughing. "In your pajamas, eating cereal and watching cartoons."

Ryan glared at Sharpay and fired back, "As if you don't still play dress up in your room, singing stupid Spice Girls songs!"

"You hear that!" Sharpay gasped, reddening slightly.

"Please," Ryan scoffed. "Your bedroom is right next to mine! We share a freaking wall! Its not that thick."

"If you swear not to tell anyone about my thing, I promise I won't _accidentally _slip this to someone, kay?" Sharpay said, holding her pinky out.

Ryan winced. How he hated pinkie swears. Not the fact of making a truce, but the actual joining of pinkies.

"Uh, let's just shake on it," Ryan said, sticking his pale hand out.

"Fine!" Sharpay stuck her overly tanned hand out, shaking Ryan's hand.

"Can I have my cereal back now?"

"No!"

Ryan sighed.

.o.

Gabriella sat in the window seat in her room, reading _Emma _for the millionth time Gabriella was a sucker for old-fashioned romance novels. Where was her Mr. Knightley? What was he doing right now?

Gabriella sighed happily. Outside the frosted window, soft snowflakes drifted down to the sparkling dew-covered grass. Wrapped in a warm blanket, Gabby knew Ryan was her Mr. Knightley. She was sure of it. She leafed through the pages of the tarnished novel absentmindedly, enraptured in sweet daydreams of she and Ryan.

_Ryan and I having fancy dinners with our dearest friends surrounding us. Ryan playing classical music on the piano as I sung along. Ryan and I riding in a horse-drawn carriage on the way back from a social event. Ryan and I walking through the fields picking fruit._

Gabriella giggled. _None of that will ever happen though. This is the 21st century._

Her thoughts were interrupted with the sounding of a bell. _Ryan? _Gabriella wondered hopefully. It was 10 o' clock. _Could it be him wanting to start the day earlier?_

Gabby poked her head out her door. Her mother stood in front of the open doorway, blocking most of Gabriella's view of their visitor. _Blonde hair! _Gabriella noticed, excitedly. Her mother moved to the side. _Long blonde hair! _Gabriella gasped. _Why is Sharpay here?_

"Gabby," Ms. Montez called out. "Someone's here to see you!"

Gabby winced. She was in her pajamas! She was in her pajamas and Sharpay was fully dressed, decked out as if she would be walking a runway any second.

Gabriella pushed her curls back behind her ears shyly, straightening her robe. _Oh well. _Gabby walked into the living area. "Uh, hi, Sharpay," Gabriella said curiously.

"Gabriella!" Sharpay cried as if they were best friends. Running over to Gabriella she enveloped her in a quick hug, and then linked her arm through hers, dragging her into the room Gabriella had come out of it.

Ms. Montez smiled. _Gabriella seems to have already made a new friend!_

Gabriella closed the door behind them. She looked at Sharpay confused and was about to speak when Sharpay beat her to it.

"So I know you're wondering why I'm here," Sharpay began, examining Gabriella's various possessions that were scattered about the room. "Nice teddy bear," Sharpay sneered, pointing to the ginger-colored bear that lay on her bed.

Gabriella blushed. "What are you doing here?"

Sharpay became suddenly serious, lowering her voice. "I need to know where Troy and Emma are going on their date. Do you know? Stupid Ryan didn't even know. And he won't go spy on them for me! Can you believe that? I mean, doesn't he realize how important this is? Anyway, do you?"

Gabriella was baffled by Sharpay's little speech. She had spoken so fast, she had hardly understood a word. _Huh? _"Do I know what?"

"Do you know where Troy and Emma are going on their date?" Sharpay cried exasperated.

"No. I don't even know who Emma is!"

"Ugh! That's exactly what Ryan said!"

Gabriella smiled at this. She could just imagine the twins arguing about silly little things like that. _I bet he looks really hot when he's all worked up and frustrated._

"Hello! Earth to Gabriella!" Sharpay exclaimed.

"Huh, what?" Gabriella asked, wrinkling her brow.

"Is there anyway you could find out? I mean you and Troy seem like you're friends or something. Oh my god! Do you have his number?" Sharpay asked hopefully.

Gabriella considered this. She did have his number from when she had told him to call her sometime, but should she use this information to help Sharpay. Sharpay had never done or said anything nice to her. She hadn't even known her for two days! Yet, the same could be said for Ryan.

Ryan. Sharpay was Ryan's twin, his sister. He was obviously close to her in some sort of odd, messed up way. Maybe she'd be able to be closer to Ryan if she was closer to Sharpay. Plus, if she and Sharpay were on good terms, Sharpay could tell her all about the things Ryan wouldn't ever want her to know. She smiled at this thought.

"Yes," Gabriella replied slowly, uncertain if this was what she should say.

"Seriously?" Sharpay screamed. "Oh my god! Call him! Call him and say you wanna hang out this afternoon! And then he'll have to tell you his plans. This is perfect!"

"I don't know," Gabriella said unsure. Sharpay sent her a chilling death glare. _OK, maybe I will. This won't be awkward. I mean, I told him we'd hang out sometime. I just hope he doesn't take this the wrong way. If he thought that I liked him that would just make things even more complicated._

"Fine," Gabriella sighed. She picked up her silver cell phone and scrolled down the contact list to Troy.

"Hello," Troy answered sleepily.

"Hi, Troy. It's Gabriella. Did I wake you?"

"No, no. What's up?"

"Uh, just wondering if you wanted to do something this afternoon."

"I'm sorry Gabriella, but I kinda got plans."

"Oh, really? With whom?"

Troy grinned. _Is Gabriella jealous? _"I got a date with this girl named Emma. She's really cool. We're going to the movies."

"Oh, ok. Well have fun!"

_Have fun? That sounded like she was happy for me. _"Uh, ok. Let's definitely reschedule though, okay? We need to hang out."

"Ok," Gabriella replied. "I gotta go. Bye!" Gabriella quickly hung up. She knew Sharpay would be jealous if she knew Troy wanted to hang out with her, even just as friends. It was funny how she already had Sharpay all figured out.

Don't be so quick to judge.

"So?" Sharpay asked. "What's the deal?"

"He's going to the movies with her," Gabriella replied.

_Movies. There are five theaters in this hotel. How am I supposed to know which one?_

"Interesting," Sharpay said, as if the whole topic now completely bored her. "So, thanks for your help. I guess I owe you one now."

"Oh no, you don't have to do anything," Gabriella replied. She was so polite that she just naturally said that to anyone, even Sharpay.

Sharpay was shocked by Gabriella's behavior. _This girl is way too nice. I barge in here uninvited and she gives me the information I need with little hesitation._

Sharpay felt a little guilty now. She walked towards the door to leave, but paused, her hand on the doorknob. "You know, Gabriella, Ryan really likes you a lot. He's always talking about you and thinking about you," Sharpay paused for a second, smiling at Gabriella. Then the smile faded and she became serious again. "Don't mess things up ok? Ryan's fallen hard for you. He'd be devastated…" she trailed off.

"Sharpay," Gabriella said smiling, "Don't worry. I really like Ryan too. But don't tell him that!" Gabriella added embarrassed.

"Good," Sharpay said. _Good to know she doesn't like Troy._ "Oh and don't tell him what I said either. He'd kill me!"

Gabriella giggled. "You know, maybe we could be friends?" Gabby asked, shyly.

"Maybe," Sharpay replied coolly. "Kidding," she added. "You can't be too bad if Ryan likes you."

Gabriella gave her a little look.

Sharpay laughed. "Kidding again. See you around, Montez."

Gabriella rolled her eyes as Sharpay left. Sharpay was so all over the place. One minute she was nice and friendly, the next she was threatening her and calling her _Montez. _But hey, everything would be a lot better if she could get on Sharpay's good side.

.o.

Ryan sat fidgeting on the couch. He'd been watching TV for six hours straight. He was so bored. _Three more freaking hours._

He heard a door slam shut and turned to see Sharpay waltz into the living room a huge smile on her face.

"Where have you been for the past two hours?" Ryan asked.

"Oh just been walking around the hotel, visiting some of the theaters, went to Gabriella's, did a little shopping," she said in a rush.

Ryan's eyes bugged out. "Whoa, REWIND! You went to _Gabriella's_!"

"Yeah," Sharpay said as if it wasn't a huge deal. "So what?"

"_So what_? Why did you go there?"

"Can't a girl visit a fellow girlfriend?"

"You don't even know Gabriella! In fact, the other night you pretty much despised her!" Ryan paused, suddenly realizing why Sharpay had gone to Gabby's. "You didn't!" he cried.

"Didn't what?" Sharpay replied innocently.

"I can't believe you! You used her connection to Troy to find out his date! After I told you to leave it alone!" Ryan shook his head disapprovingly. He wasn't mad at Gabby; she was just being nice. He was mad at his sister for taking advantage of her. She knew Gabby would do anything for someone who was part of his life. That's the type of girl Gabriella was.

"Oh, please Ryan. Don't act so shocked. You should've known I wouldn't give up so easily. We Evans aren't quitters!"

Ryan glared at Sharpay. "You're gonna regret whatever it is your doing. And I know you're up to something. Don't even try to deny it. Just know its bad karma. And its going to come back to get you," he said. Ryan got up off the couch turning his back to his sister, and began walking to his room.

Sharpay stared after him, surprised yet again at his behavior. _Since when does Ryan have an attitude! _Sharpay stomped her foot in frustration, knowing he was right and screamed back at him, "Since when are you a Buddhist RYAN!"

Ryan's response back: yet another dramatic slam of his door.

Ryan collapsed on his bed, sighing deeply. _I'm not gonna let Sharpay ruin my day. I'm gonna go out with Gabriella and its gonna be great._

He smiled. He was proud of himself. He was becoming his own person. He was standing up to Sharpay; not letting her rule his every move. He had played his first solo and even succeeded in actually winning the heart of Troy Bolton's "girl" as Troy most likely thought of Gabriella as his. At least he hoped he had her heart cause she sure had his. He didn't even want to think about Gabriella possibly liking Troy. The thought made him sick to his stomach.

_I'm going to return to school a brand new Ryan Evans, _Ryan decided. _Independent of Sharpay, more confident, more outgoing. At least I hope so. Without Gabriella around will I have any motive to break away from Sharpay and be my own person?_

Ryan frowned. _Screw this. _He didn't want to think negative thoughts. Actually he didn't want to _think_ about anything at all right now. Walking over to his stereo, he popped in some mix some emo kid at his school had given him. The kid was always pushing his music on others, handing out discs to anyone. Ryan had politely taken the CD, but had never listened to it. Ryan was in need of a distraction and this was just what he needed.

He turned the volume of loud, letting some song by Fall Out- was it Boy? he had no clue- burst out of the speakers.

.o.

Sharpay, who sat on her bed filing her nails, shuddered when she heard the revolting music Ryan was blasting. _What the fuck is he listening to? I swear that boy is getting weirder and weirder by the day._

Sharpay flipped her phone open, a new text message awaiting her. Sharpay smiled, it was from Oliver, just the boy she had wanted to hear from.

Oliver: Sounds gr8! C u 4!

Sharpay smiled even brighter. Operation Make Troy the Basketball Boy Jealous was in motion.

.o.

**So, this chapter had a lot of Sharpay in it! Haha And both Ryan and Gabriella obviously like each other but both are unsure if the other feels the same way. And Troy still can't make up his freaking mind! Lol**

**Hope you liked it!**

**Next chapter: most likely will be very Ryella focused. I hope to make the date last the whole chapter so we'll see. And then the next chapter will be focused on Troy, Shar, Oliver, and Emma.**


	12. The Hold Button

**Never Felt This Way**

.o.

**Note: Thank you kind and loyal reviewers! I so appreciate you guys! So the first stuff is totally random with Shar and Ry and was inspired by my viewing of the complete Humuhumu video where we get to see that Lucas in fact has rather muscular arms! Wow! Lol. So yeah then it's the date! I swear!**

.o.

Ryan adjusted the tan colored newsboy cap that topped his crop of blonde hair. He decided he would go with an outfit he would be comfortable with and a hat brought him comfort, like a security blanket. So now he stood with his hat on still wearing his "pajamas", if you call a blue t-shirt and plaid boxer shorts "pajamas", in front of the mirror, the emo mix still blasting from his stereo.

_Getting dressed is proving to be more difficult than I thought. Which is completely ridiculous seeing as I'm a guy, I'm not supposed to stand around trying on fifty outfits like Sharpay._

He grew completely frustrated. Why was he so fucking nervous? Stomping over to the stereo he ejected the disc and tossed it into a corner of the room. Who was he kidding? He hated this music! This wasn't helping him at all. Nothing was going to distract from thinking about Gabriella or worrying about their "date".

He heard a dramatized sigh of joyful relief coming from the general direction of Sharpay's room. He walked over to the corner a sly grin on his face, briefly considering putting the mix back in, but stopped. He wasn't going to torture himself, just so he could have a little fun with Sharpay.

Walking into his closet, he yanked a tan and white striped collared shirt and a red sweater vest off the hangers. Pulling the collared shirt on, he began to button up the shirt when he realized his blue shirt was visible through it. Grunting in frustration, he hurriedly flung off the button up and began to pull his blue shirt off when his door flew open.

"Just stopping by to congratulate you on realizing that that music was a complete piece of…" Sharpay stopped, realizing her brother was kinda in the middle of changing.

"I swear Sharpay…" Ryan started as he attempted to pull his blue shirt back on, yet he was having a hard time getting his arm back through. _Is this getting to small?_

"Sorry!" Sharpay squealed. "I know I need to work on the whole knocking thing!" She gave him an odd look. "Are you like stuck in that shirt?" she asked, laughing.

"Yeah, thanks to you! Help me get out of it!" he whined.

"Geez, you big baby! Fine!" Sharpay walked over to him, trying to yank the shirt over his head. "Wow, this is like really stuck! Have you been working out or something?"

"No!" Ryan cried. "I've been dancing like crazy for auditions, but lifting no way! I mean, c'mon do I look like I could do that?"

"Dancing can build muscle, Ryan!" Sharpay said, rolling her eyes. "And yeah actually you probably could. She put her fingers around Ryan's arm and found that instead of the normal flesh and bones, muscle was most definitely apparent.

"Really?" Ryan said feeling kinda macho. So he wasn't as skinny as he used to be. Awesomeness.

Sharpay finally managed to yank the shirt off. She stepped back looking at him in a completely let's see what Ryan's done for himself way. _Is he blind? He's totally way more ripped than he used to be! He's like Peter Parker turning into Spiderman! Not that I've ever seen that movie! OK, well only cause James Franco is hot and cause Ryan wanted to see it!_

Ryan noticed Sharpay staring at him. He crossed his arms over his bare chest, self-consciously. "What?"

"Ryan you have not just been dancing! I mean your arms and your abs! Impressive!"

"Well, I do crunches before I dance to help keep a strong center and occasionally push-ups," he muttered.

"Well keep it up!" Sharpay said approvingly. _This could be fun! He can become like a body-builder and fight people!_

Sharpay ran up to him, grabbing his hand. "C'mon! Let's go down to the weight room and see how much you can bench-press!"

"What?" Ryan cried. "One, I'm not wearing any clothes! And two, I have to get ready for my thing with Gabriella!"

"Your thing! Oh come on Ryan just say it! It's a date!"

"Well I don't know that for sure, I mean… For now, it's a thing!"

"Whatever," Sharpay said, yawning. She was officially bored again. "I'll let you go back to trying on outfits!" She got up, leaving the room.

"I wasn't trying on outfits! I have an outfit!" he yelled after her.

He threw his button up on, pulling the red sweater vest over it and folding the collar down. He pushed the sleeves of the collared shirt up to his elbows and yanked on a pair of tan cords and red and white sneakers.

_I got an hour to go! _Ryan sighed and walked out into the living room. _Oh hell, I'll just leave now. I'll be an hour early, but… maybe I shouldn't._

He walked over to the door his hand on the knob, then backed up, then walked back to the door, and then walked away again.

"Ryan, do you remember how to open the door?"

Ryan whipped his head around.

"Twist and pull!" Sharpay said slowly. "What are you doing?" she laughed.

Ignoring Sharpay's question, he asked, "Shar, if a boy was to show up an hour earlier would you consider that a good or bad thing?"

"God, you overanalyze everything!" Sharpay sighed. "Well, for one it could be bad, cause I may not be ready yet, but on the other hand the fact that a guy would be so anxious to go out with me, that he couldn't possibly wait another second for the date to begin, would be good." Sharpay paused. "You really like her a lot, don't you?"

"I do," Ryan whispered quietly, without hesitation.

"Well then go get her Ry!" Sharpay exclaimed, encouragingly. Ryan could do almost anything he set his mind too, sometimes he just needed a little push. And that push tended to always be Sharpay.

Ryan looked up at Sharpay, newfound determination in his crystal blue eyes. "I will! I'm gonna go on this thing with Gabby and I'm gonna be relaxed and its gonna be awesome!"

"You got it! Go Ryan, go Ryan, go Ryan!" Sharpay chanted enthusiastically as Ryan strode confidently out the door and down the corridor.

Sharpay stopped as soon as Ryan was out of earshot and sighed heavily, rolling her eyes. _I don't know if I can psych Ryan up for every single freaking date he goes on! It's exhausting! _She sighed dramatically again and made her way back to her bedroom. She was gonna have to look hot!

.o.

Ryan strolled over to the elevator, hitting the button sharply. He tapped his feet impatiently, waiting for the elevator. After what seemed like a lifetime, the elevator doors parted. Ryan jerked his head up quickly, hearing the silver doors slide open and came face to face with Gabriella herself.

"Gabby?" Ryan asked quizzically, giving her an odd, surprised look.

"Ryan!" Gabriella squeaked. _Oh wow, why did I decide to come down to his room an hour early! I'm such an idiot!_

"I was just heading up to your room!" Ryan admitted, sheepishly, his cheeks turning the color of his vest.

"Really?" Gabriella exclaimed, relieved, her cheeks about the same color. "I was coming to see you."

"Really?" Ryan replied, now his turn to be shocked.

"Yes," Gabriella whispered.

Ryan grinned. "Well then I think we've both made it clear that we're ready to get the party started!" He did a little dance in front of Gabriella.

Gabriella giggled. _I love how he's always himself._

Ryan laughed along with her. "Well I guess we better get the elevator."

Both reached over at the same time to press the button, but Ryan got there first his finger striking the button, turning it bright yellow. They then both laughed nervously at the situation, looking down at their feet. Gabriella, feeling awkward standing right in front of him, walked over to stand beside him as they waited for the elevator.

Ryan looked down at his watch, tapping it jokingly. _This is taking forever!_

The elevator opened and the pair stepped inside. The elevator was empty and they both leaned against the back wall staring at the reflection of them both in the mirrors that surrounded the interior. Gabriella's eyes met Ryan's in the mirror and both laughed, realizing they had just sat there checking each other out.

Ryan turned to Gabby and Gabriella did the same saying, "Wow, we really need to like break the ice or something…"

Ryan smiled and leaned towards her, taking her face in his hands and kissing her. Gabby moved closer to him wrapping her arms around his waist, loving the feel of his soft sweater vest against her arms. Ryan, feeling the urge to move a little faster, deepened the kiss pressing her fully against him, his pale hands entangled in her dark tresses. And then the doors parted… awkward.

Gabriella's eyes fluttered open to find an old man and a little boy standing there staring at them. _Oh lord. _Gabriella pulled away from Ryan and jerked her head towards the open elevator doors.

"Hmmmm what?" Ryan muttered. "Oh! OH! Wow!" Ryan's eyes widened. Taking Gabriella's hand he pulled her out of the elevator along with him, giving the old man an apologetic smile. "I swear, kids these days…" he heard the old man mutter after them.

As soon as Ryan and Gabriella turned around the corner of the hallway, they burst into laughter.

"Oh my god, I can't believe those people just saw us!" Gabriella cried, laughing hysterically.

"Guess next time we're in an elevator we'll have to hit the hold button," Ryan drawled, cocking an eyebrow suggestively. He didn't know where this confidence was coming from, but he was just gonna run with it.

Gabriella gave him a little look and thwacked his arm playfully as they ambled down the hallway.

Ryan laughed and intertwined his fingers with hers once more, leading her into the ice cream parlor.

"So booth or bar?" Ryan asked.

Gabriella smiled as she looked around the parlor. The floor was black and white checkered and the walls were a bright turquoise color. There were big red booths and a long sleek silver bar. The entire space reminded Gabriella of something out of the 1950s.

"Booth," Gabriella answered.

"Booth it is," Ryan declared and they walked over to an empty booth in the corner.

Ryan slid in on one side as Gabriella slid into the other. "So what do you think?" Ryan asked.

"I love it!" Gabby cried. "Its so old fashioned!"

Ryan smiled, glad she approved of the place. He reached for the stack of menus that sat at the end of the table and handed one to Gabriella, placing one before him.

"So how did you find out about this place?" Gabriella asked as she perused her menu.

"Well, my family has been coming to the Lodge for Christmas for as long as I can remember," Ryan began. "I believe the first time I came here was the Christmas when I was five. My dad and I had just been shopping for Christmas presents in some of the stores in this wing and I remember that he let me pick something out to buy. And well that's when I bought my first hat." Ryan paused smiling a little at the memory. "My dad had never really liked hats and so I had never had one before, so when I went and picked one up, he had to let me get it because he had promised me anything. And then afterwards I wore my hat to this parlor that he took me to and I had a bananas foster." _What a great day that had been. Getting my first hat, trying my first Banana Foster, Dad actually paying attention to me._

Gabriella grinned, imagining a little Ryan in a cute little hat, eating ice cream. "What kind of hat was it?"

"Actually it was very similar to the hat I'm wearing now, except it was navy," he answered pointing to the tan cap that topped his head.

"Really?" Gabriella grinned, and leaned over the table and snatched the cap off his head, giving him a flirtatious grin as she pulled the hat over her glossy curls.

"Hey!" Ryan cried, laughing as he ran a hand through his short blonde hair. He gave her a sly smile as he ducked under the table and reappeared on the other side next to Gabriella.

"What are you doing?" Gabriella laughed.

"You know, you look adorable in that hat," he whispered into her ear. Placing an arm around her, he kissed her on the cheek and then his lips met hers in a soft soulful kiss. Ryan resisted laughing as he kissed her, his right hand reaching up towards his hat. With his blue eyes open, he snatched the hat off her head, as he continued to kiss her.

As soon as Gabriella felt the cap leave her head, her eyes, opened in surprise, to see Ryan's eyes twinkling mischievously, the cap now on his head once again.

Gabby pulled away from the kiss. "You tricked me!" she exclaimed.

Ryan chortled like a little kid who had just played a prank on someone.

"What can I get you?" a waitress asked, standing in front of their booth, pen and pad in hand.

Turning serious, Ryan asked, "Gabby?"

"Um, what was that thing you had the first time you came here? Bananas foster? I'll try one of those."

Ryan smiled and said, "Make that two."

"Coming right up!" the waitress said cheerfully, and walked off.

Ryan leaned down as if to duck under the table to go back to his side, when Gabriella grabbed his hand.

"Stay on this side," she said urging him to lean back. Ryan readily complied and Gabriella sighed happily and leaned her head against Ryan's broad shoulder.

"Tell me more about you, Gabby," Ryan said.

Gabriella smiled. _Seriously how many guys are like Ryan? Where they really wanna know the real you? _"Well, like I said it's just me and Mom and it works really well. We're really close. I'm basically a nerd." Gabriella giggled. "I do well in school, I'm responsible, I play it safe."

Ryan smiled down at her. "Well I'm a dork, so we fit well together."

Gabriella laughed. _We Fit Well Together! _Those four words rang in her ears. She was so giddy, she reached up and kissed him.

Ryan kissed her back eagerly. He was getting a little… shall we say hot and bothered. He was ready to get back in the elevator now and press the hold button.

Gabriella ended the kiss, suddenly. _Before we get too carried away, _Gabriella thought.

"What was that for?" Ryan asked.

"For being such a great guy," Gabriella answered, softly.

The waitress reappeared with two bananas fosters and placed them before the pair. "Enjoy!" she sang out sweetly. She had been watching them and they seemed like great kids. _Oh to be young and in love, _the waitress thought.

Gabriella grabbed a spoon and eagerly tried the dessert before her. "Mmmmm, this is delicious!"

"Glad you like it!" Ryan said as he dug into his own.

As they wrapped up eating their desserts, Gabriella asked, "So does Sharpay ever come here with you? You guys seem pretty close."

"Yeah we are pretty close. I mean, being twins and not having our parents around most of the time we are basically each other's family. But I mean we have a kinda love-hate relationship. But anyways yeah I drag her here but she refuses to order anything cause she's "on a diet" and then she ends up eating half of mine, so…"

Gabriella laughed. "I wish I had a sibling. It sounds fun."

Ryan chuckled and said, "Love her or hate her she's my sister, and probably my best friend. Which is kinda sad!"

Gabriella giggled. "No, its cute. I think its great that you guys are so close."

Ryan felt his phone vibrating in his back pocket. Pulling the white slider phone out of his cords pocket, he read the screen. "Speaking of the devil," he muttered.

He opened up Sharpay's text and scanned it:

C u in 5 Olly.

Ryan cursed under his breath. Shar had accidently sent this message to him. Everything was coming together now. Oliver was that kid at their table last night. The one who had kept eyeing Sharpay. She must be going out on a date with him at whatever place Troy and that girl were going to.

"What's wrong Ryan?" Gabriella asked.

"Gabby, where were Troy and that girl going on their date at?"

Gabriella gave him a weird look and replied. "The movies. Why?"

Ryan explained the whole ordeal to Gabriella. "I'm sorry Gabs, but I really gotta go make sure Shar doesn't do something stupid. Or get herself hurt." he added sadly.

Gabriella's heart melted. She loved how protective he was of Sharpay. He was just so freaking perfect.

"I'll come with you!" she said.

"Are you sure?" Ryan asked her sadly. "Gosh, I am so sorry Gabby."

"No, Ryan, it's fine," she said reassuringly. "Besides we'll get some time in the elevator," she added, grinning.

"You're right, there's always the elevator!" he said, grinning back. He hurriedly pulled a leather wallet out of his back pocket, flinging a twenty on the tabletop.

"Let's go!" he exclaimed, grabbing her hand and speed walking towards the elevator.

.o.

**Don't you just love elevators? Lol. Anyways hope you liked their date and hope you are excited for the next chapter. We'll have the whole gang at the movies and it should be good!**


	13. The Theaters The Thing

**Never Felt This Way**

.o.

**Note: Thank you reviewers! Sorry this is like 2 weeks late! I usually update weekly but stupid school got really time consuming these past two weeks. But now I'm on break and I have time to write so hopefully I can update again in the next couple days! Thanks for your patience!**

.o.

Troy felt odd. He stood casually dressed in a striped shirt with a comfortable jacket thrown over the tee and ripped blue jeans, yet he felt strange. This didn't seem right; standing in front of the theater waiting for a girl he happened to be sort of leading on.

He didn't like Emma. At least right now he didn't. He still had this hope that he could make himself like Emma. Yet could he? Emma was beautiful, that was undeniable. With her pale porcelain complexion and long sleek brown hair, her kind green eyes and soft lilting voice, she was a girl any guy would be lucky to have. But she just wasn't the girl Troy.

Yet who was it that he longed for? Sharpay or Gabriella? It should be a simple choice. He had to like one of them more, feel something stronger for one of them.

A soft greeting interrupted his jumbled thoughts; Emma had arrived.

"Hello," he replied back cautiously as he turned to face her. His eyes widened in surprise, marveled by her beauty. She looked serene in her navy cardigan and tan Bermuda shorts.

Troy watched her intently as she pushed a lock of dark hair behind her ear shyly. Maybe he could do this…

Blushing slightly at Troy's sudden speechlessness, Emma chuckled softly, "Should we get the tickets?"

"The tickets!" Troy blurted out forcing his eyes back to her sparkling emerald eyes. "Of course!"

Troy pushed through the heavy doors briefly remembering it may be nice to hold the door open for Emma and doing so a little awkwardly. Emma smiled, appreciating the gesture. Troy relaxed returning her warm smile with a gracious grin of his own. The pair walked next to each other making their way to the counter unsure of what to say or do. I mean, they really were complete strangers.

.o.

Sharpay cowered behind a plant, glowering as she watched Troy and Emma through the window she faced. Was Emma really that pretty? She was so… pale, sickly looking. Oh whom was she kidding? Her skin was gorgeous, like that of some fair maiden from a fairy tale. Her hair not a strand out of place, her clothes impeccable. Sharpay sighed, feeling defeated.

"Sharpay?" a voice questioned.

Sharpay whipped around. _Oh, its just Oliver._

"It is you," Oliver murmured thoughtfully. Realizing her odd position he threw her a puzzling look. "What are you doing down there?"

Sharpay reached a hand out and Oliver, a look of surprise briefly crossing his face, took it willingly. Helping her to her feet, he kept eye contact, waiting for an answer.

"I, uh, dropped an earring," Sharpay muttered.

Oliver gave her an odd look. She seemed nervous or something. It was strange to see her look a little vulnerable, not all-powerful.

"Okay," he said slowly, unsurely. Realizing he still held Sharpay's hand in his firm grasp, he dropped it quickly.

"Thank you," Sharpay told him curtly. She looked at him then, appraising his appearance. He looked good. He wore a green sweater that brought out his eyes and dark jeans. He was quite tall she realized; he towered at least a foot over her. His dark chocolate hair was mussed to perfection. She sighed. If he wasn't so damn shy and polite she may possibly be attracted to him.

"Tickets?" Oliver questioned, hesitantly.

"Have them," Sharpay replied quickly, displaying two tickets to some stupid comedy. She had flirted her way into getting a young employee to tell her which movie Troy had reserved tickets for. It had been too easy. She was getting too lucky. Something bad had to happen.

"Oh," Oliver stated. "I would have paid."

"Unnecessary. After all I invited you,"

A smile played at he corner of his lips and he chuckled softly. "True," he answered. "But really I feel I should…"

"No!" Sharpay responded in a fierce whisper.

"Why are we whispering?" Oliver asked matching her barely audible level.

"No reason," Sharpay said nervously, allowing her voice to rise slightly in volume.

"Well all right then," he answered, amused. "Shall we?" he asked holding the crook of his arm out to her.

Sharpay rolled her eyes at the corniness of it all, yet complied, looping her thin arm through his lean but surprisingly muscular one. "We shall."

.o.

"No…no…no," Ryan murmured in between gentle kisses on Gabriella's smooth throat.

Gabriella giggled giddily as she watched the dial on the elevator halt at fourteen.

Ryan broke away from Gabriella moving to her side, taking her small hand in his. "Stupid elevator keeps stopping," he muttered.

Both sighed simultaneously as a host of people pushed their way into the elevator.

Ryan squeezed her hand throwing her a smile. Gabriella smiled back, her eyes meeting his in an adoring gaze.

A woman backed into them, forcing them to retreat into the corner. The space was unbearably tight and Gabriella felt herself being pushed up against Ryan. Not that either really minded…

Ryan sighed, this time out of frustration rather than disappointment. This was unbearable. She was so close, yet seemingly unattainable. He wanted to attack her with fresh waves of kisses, yet really it was rather impossible seeing as they had an audience. He settled for wrapping his arms around her waist, holding her against his chest, smelling her hair.

Gabriella felt a jolt of electricity shoot through her entire being. Ryan made her feel beautiful, wanted, special. She really couldn't grasp the fact that they had only known each other a mere couple of days.

The doors moved open and the crowd of people elbowed their way out of the elevator.

"Aw, this is the right floor," Ryan whispered into Gabriella's ear. Gabriella shuddered as his breath tickled her ear.

Ryan released her taking her hand once more as they walked out of the elevator.

"So what's the plan?" Gabriella asked.

"Well honestly I don't really have one," Ryan chuckled lightly. "I guess we just sneak in, stay unnoticed, and make sure Shar doesn't go and get herself in trouble."

Gabriella laughed. He spoke of Sharpay as if she was some sort of burden, yet she knew how much he cared. He just was too angry to show it right now.

"Quick," Ryan whispered urgently, pulling Gabriella back into the hall before the theater.

Gabriella threw him a questioning glance. "I saw Troy and that girl," Ryan explained. "We really shouldn't let them see us. Troy knows that most of the time wherever I am Sharpay isn't far behind."

Gabriella nodded. "How do we get inside then?" she asked.

A sneaky grin appeared on Ryan's face. "I have an idea."

.o.

"Let's move it!" Sharpay whispered urgently as she propelled herself and Oliver forward.

"Why are we in such a hurry?"

"Because…because I wanna see the previews!"

Oliver smiled. He liked seeing this side of Sharpay. She was at a loss for words, not so sure of herself. It was good to see she wasn't always so fierce.

"OK," he whispered quietly. Allowing Sharpay to drag him into the theater.

Sharpay pulled Oliver all the way to the very top row of the large theater. Hopefully they would be less noticeable there.

"Why are we sitting all the way back here in the corner?" Oliver questioned.

"What's with all the questions?" Sharpay retorted angrily. She then took a deep breath and said not so icily, "It's quite private over here." Oh boy, you just gave this boy some ideas.

Oliver grinned broadly and Sharpay realized her mistake as they sat down, returning Oliver's grin with a hesitant oh-no-what-have-I-done smile.

.o.

Troy and Emma sat in the front of the theater, both positively silent. Everything had gone smoothly so far. Troy had expertly retrieved the tickets and purchased popcorn and sodas for the both of them and had even let her choose their seats. Personally, he preferred the back, but whatever…

Emma sighed as she took another long sip from her soft drink. She quickly glanced over at Troy who stared blankly at the previews playing on the gigantic screen. She didn't even want to see this movie. She would have preferred the nice romantic film playing in the theater next door. Yet no, here she was stuck in a theater that would very soon be playing some sick comedy. She wouldn't have minded so much if she and Troy were actually communicating, instead of munching on their snacks and watching uninteresting trailers in complete and utter silence. She had thought they had hit it off, but maybe she was wrong.

.o.

"Let's change up our appearances a little so we won't be recognizable to Sharpay and Troy," Ryan whispered.

He pulled his hat off and handed it to Gabby. "Here tuck your hair up and put my hat on. You wanted to wear it anyway," Ryan joked.

Gabriella giggled and tucked her long hair into the cap.

Ryan then proceeded to pull off his vest, wearing only his button-up shirt. Gabriella took it from him and stuffed it in her bag. "Well now I look more like the average guy," Ryan laughed. "Now what else can we do to you?" he wondered aloud.

"I have my reading glasses with me," Gabriella replied and slipped them out of her bag, placing them on.

"Perfect!" Ryan exclaimed. "And take off your sweater and wrap it around your waist,"

Gabriella tied her yellow sweater around her waist revealing a white tank top.

Ryan smiled and kissed her forehead. "You look too cute," he whispered.

Gabriella beamed radiantly. Yes he was definitely a keeper. She looked like a mess. Not that she minded. She realized right then that she would do anything for Ryan. Anything at all.

Gabriella chuckled softly and boldly reached over to untuck Ryan's shirt. "There," she whispered. "Now you look average."

Ryan blushed furiously at the contact but gained composure and backed Gabriella up against the wall, pulling her into a rough kiss. He pulled away leaving her breathless and then whispered, "Thanks for helping."

.o.

Sharpay tried to appear very in to Oliver's account of working part time at a photography studio, but let's face it she was more interested in a certain pair's date. She grinned wickedly as she realized neither one spoke to each other. They sat uncomfortable, eyes on the screen.

Oliver frowned. "You find that funny?"

"What?" Sharpay asked, confused. "Oh no, that trailer just reminded me of something me and Ryan like to do!" she quickly lied.

"You like to have sex!" Oliver cried loudly.

"What?" Sharpay shrieked. "No! I meant the one before this one! Gross Oliver. He's my freaking twin!"

"I know," Oliver chucked. "I was attempting to lighten the mood."

"Oh," Sharpay whispered. "Well then that was hilarious!" she said sarcastically.

"I thought so," Oliver teased.

Sharpay groaned.

.o.

Troy sighed deeply. There had to be something they could talk about, something they had in common. "So…uh….Emma, what do you like to do for well fun?"

"Read," Emma replied coolly.

Troy gave her a weird look and then quickly smiled. "Awesome," he said turning back to face the screen. Well then maybe they didn't have anything in common.

.o.

Ryan led Gabriella into the theater quietly and they halted on the side. Ryan looked around searching for the people he was attempting to avoid. He spotted Sharpay and Oliver at the top and Gabriella pointed out Troy and Emma at the front.

"Middle it is," Ryan whispered and they made their way towards the middle keeping their heads ducked down. They sat down in two seats at the far right with an obscured view where they would hopefully be more hidden.

"You think they'll see us," Gabriella whispered.

"Naw, we'll just keep a good eye on them and if they look our way, well we can always engage in a heavy make out session. Then they wouldn't be able to see our faces," Ryan joked.

"Why wait?" Gabriella asked and pressed her lips to Ryan's.

.o.

**Note: So just to make things clear I have nothing against Rypay. It was merely a joke and I actually admit to reading a good Rypay once in a while so… lol. Anyways, hope you liked this. Don't worry the Troypays coming. Slowly but surely! Haha**

**Next chapter:**

**Will Ryan and Gabby get caught or will they make it out of the theater scot-free?**

**Will Troy and Emma warm up to each other?**

**Will Sharpay do anything stupid?**

**Will Oliver find out he's being used?**

**Read Chapter 14 to find out!**


	14. Everything Is So Far From Good

**Never Felt This Way**

Troy glanced back at Emma again, annoyed. She looked very uncomfortable sitting there. She was carefully eating her popcorn, one piece at a time and she sat ramrod straight, her eyes completely focused on the screen.

In fact, her tenseness was making him angry. Couldn't she just loosen up? He was seriously considering grabbing a handful of popcorn, shoving it in her mouth, and screaming, _now that is how you eat popcorn!_

But that would have been very rude, so he instead decided to try and strike up a conversation again, "What's your favorite-"

"Shhhh," Emma whispered, flicking a finger at the screen, indicating the movie was beginning.

Troy narrowed his eyes, but Emma was too busy watching the film to notice. He slumped down in his chair and threw a handful of popcorn into his mouth with such force that a few pieces went flying, one wedging itself into Emma's hair.

Emma looked over at him a shocked, yet angry look in her eyes. "You just threw popcorn in my hair!" she cried.

Suppressing a laugh, Troy merely winked. "Shhhh!" he whispered and pointed toward the screen. "I'm trying to watch the movie!"

Strangely enough, Emma smiled. _What the hell? _Troy thought. _I was basically mocking her and she thought it was funny. She was supposed to get mad at me! Wait, why do I want her to get mad at me? _Troy shook his head and sighed.

.o.

Sharpay crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. _Things were going superbly and then she smiles! What did he say??_

"What are you staring so intensely at?" Oliver asked.

"What? Huh?" Sharpay asked distractedly.

"You're staring at something and it's not the screen. What are you looking at?"

"I am looking at the screen! We're at a movie theater, dumb ass!"

Oliver smirked. "Hey, no need to start flinging curse words at me. I'm curious. What is so interesting that you'd rather watch it than this splendid movie we're watching?"

"Splendid! Who says that anymore?"

"I do. And don't you try to change the subject."

"I wasn't changing the subject, I was merely commenting on your use of such an old fashioned word."

"Merely! Who says merely anymore?"

Sharpay groaned and sighed with defeat. "You really wanna know?"

"With all my heart." Oliver replied grinning.

"Fine. But promise not to make fun of me or get mad at me," Sharpay pleaded, sticking out her lower lip for effect.

What boy could resist? "Okay, fine I promise."

"I'm watching that couple right there. The boy with the caramel colored hair and the girl with the dark brown hair."

Oliver groaned. "That wouldn't happen to be the guy from last night who so rudely interrupted our dance would it?"

"Yes," Sharpay answered and sighed sadly. "And now look what he's done. Asked some random girl out. And just to make me jealous!"

Oliver snickered a little. "Don't you think that's a little vain?"

"What do you mean?" Sharpay asked, confused.

"Well, I mean, to assume that the reason he asked Emma out was to make _you _jealous. Maybe he likes the girl."

"How do you know her name?"

"I danced with her last night when Troy cut in. She was the girl he had been dancing with before."

"She's pretty isn't she?" Sharpay whispered.

"Well yeah. I'm not gonna lie. But, Sharpay, so are you."

Sharpay gave a weak smile and reached over to squeeze his hand. "Thanks Olly."

Oliver chuckled. "You know no one else calls me Olly. I like it."

Sharpay smiled and then frowned. "Wait you realize this doesn't mean I like you, right?"

Oliver clutched at his heart and dramatically cried, "You mean this isn't a date! You don't love me! But I thought you cared!"

Sharpay laughed and hit him playfully. "Sorry Charlie, but you're part of my make Troy jealous plan."

"Really?" Oliver asked. "And does that mean you find me attractive? Really, Sharpay, I'm flattered."

Sharpay whacked him again and then laughed. "You remind me of my brother, Ryan. You're just like him, all shy and innocent and then wham! You're a cocky sarcastic little fool!"

Oliver snickered. "Just what a guy wants to hear. _You remind me of my brother."_

"Aw Olly, it's a good thing! I love Ryan. We don't always get along, but when we do it's great. He's probably my best friend."

"Well hell, since I don't get to be the _boyfriend _can I be the boy who's a friend?"

"Of course!" Sharpay said and gave him a quick hug.

"Hey just wondering, does the boy who's a friend get to kiss you, or no…?"

"Shut up and watch the movie!"

.o.

Ryan pulled away from Gabriella's kiss and whispered, "As much as I'd love to, I really gotta keep an eye on Shar."

Gabriella sighed and entwined her hand with his. "Do you have to be such a good brother?"

Ryan chuckled softly and kissed her forehead. "Yes, my dear, I'm afraid I must."

"Well, then I'll keep an eye on Troy and make sure he doesn't see her," Gabriella announced, trying to be helpful.

"That would be great, Gabby," Ryan said and wrapped an arm around her. He began to massage her shoulder gently.

Gabriella shuddered. His touch did a major number on her and she found herself unable to concentrate on Troy and Emma.

"Ry, as much as I love that," she said gently reaching up to stop his hand. "I'm having a hard time concentrating."

"Sorry," Ryan mumbled, blushing a little. It was hard to believe that Gabriella was as turned on by him, as he was by her.

"Its ok," Gabriella whispered and leaned over to kiss his cheek. _You know what probably not a good idea, _she decided and pulled back, focusing on her couple.

.o.

Emma shifted around in her seat nervously as she watched the movie. In fact, the creaking was starting to get on Troy's nerves. Couldn't the girl just sit still? This had to be the dumbest idea he had ever had. He could never like this girl. She smiles at odd times and never sits still and never relaxes. She was completely wrong for him.

Emma glanced over at Troy nervously then quickly focused back on the film. Troy was cute and she was definitely physically attracted to him, but the boy was annoying as hell and let's face it they had nothing in common.

Emma gathered up all the courage she possibly could and turned to face Troy.

Troy could feel her eyes on him and he turned towards her not really knowing what to expect. Was she gonna slap him, kiss him, throw popcorn at him?

Emma drew in a shaky breath and exhaled slowly. "A-are you as not into this as I am?" she asked quietly, desperately trying not to sound too rude.

Troy sighed and smiled. "Oh thank god, we feel the same way!"

Emma giggled. "Yeah I mean we don't have any similar interests…"

"And I like to talk during movies and you obviously don't…"

"And I like to read and all you think about is basketball…"

"And you're like into school and I am so completely not..."

"You're way more adventurous than I am…"

"You're so shy and sweet…"

"You're really good looking…"

"I think I'm gonna kiss you…"

"Okay…"

Troy leaned over; placing his hands on her flushed cheeks and planted his thin lips on her soft, full ones. Emma responded to the kiss, placing her hands around his neck and pulling him closer. Troy's hands slunk down to her hips, pressing him fully against her, sliding his tongue into her welcome mouth turning the kiss into a full on French. After several more minutes of battling tongues, Emma pushed his chest, peeling him off of her and they both sunk back down into their chairs, panting heavily.

"Wow…" Emma managed to gasp, breathing heavily.

"Uh yeah," Troy sputtered, surprised at the sudden change of events.

Well they may not have anything in common, but they sure as hell have chemistry.

.o.

"Can I look now?" Sharpay asked moaning, her head buried in Oliver's shoulder.

"Wait a second, wait a second, oh and she pushes him off of her… about time! Get a room, kiddos!" Oliver joked. He changed to a serious tone and said, "All right, coast is clear."

Sharpay lifted her head up hesitantly, and glanced down at the pair. "Oh my god, how long did that last?"

"I'd say at least four minutes," Oliver responded. "And she looked so damn innocent." He shook his head like he was disappointed and then chuckled.

"This isn't funny, Oliver! I mean look at them. They obviously like each other! They just made out for like an hour!"

"Cheer up, Shar! It could've been like a heat of the moment thing." _Wait what are you saying? Do you want her to get with Troy, you idiot! _"Or well, yeah I guess maybe they could…"

Sharpay glared at him. "You're supposed to be making me feel better, not depressing me. How am I gonna spend the rest of vacation watching the two of them frolic around the hotel making out every five seconds?"

Tears started to well up in her eyes and she leaned against Oliver's shoulder. Oliver patted her blonde head, soothingly and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "I really wanna kiss this all better, but then you'd probably kill me."

Sharpay giggled through her tears. "You're right, I would."

Oliver sighed and rested his head on top of hers. "Cause the kiss wouldn't be coming from the right guy."

Sharpay sighed as well and replied, "No it wouldn't be."

.o.

Gabriella tugged on Ryan's shirt. "Whoa, Troy and Emma just made out for like five whole seconds. One second they're all angry, then they're chattering at a mile a minute and laughing, and then they're making out. Geez. How'd Sharpay take it?"

Ryan sighed sadly. "Not good. She refused to watch of course and now she's crying and Oliver's comforting her. You know, I wish I could be there for her right now, but I'm not supposed to be here." He paused. "But I'm really glad that Oliver kid is there. He seems like a good guy. Hopefully, he'll be able to keep her in line. I'm just glad she's not angry yet. That's when I'm afraid she'll do something."

"Yeah," Gabriella replied softly. "Well, Troy has no idea she's here so, so far everything is good…"

"Yet so far from good," Ryan finished.

Suddenly, a bright light shone in their faces and both blinked rapidly as their eyes focused on two movie theater employees.

Uh oh! What did they do?

.o.

**All right, so I thought this chapter was funny and sad all at the same time so I hope you enjoyed it. It's only a day late! Lol**

**Are Troy and Emma an item now?**

**Will Sharpay stay sad or turn mad?**

**Why in the world are employees shining flashlights in Ryan and Gabby's faces?**

**Find out in Chapter 15!**


	15. Moving On

**Never Felt This Way**

Ryan raised his arm up to his eyes, protecting them from the bright light beaming into them. He glanced over at Gabriella who mimicked his motion.

"I'm sorry you two, but this young man doesn't remember seeing you two get tickets. May I see them?" a man dressed in a suit that was obviously the manager of the theater asked, gesturing to a young teen employee in a red polyester vest.

"I…uh," Ryan stuttered. _Shit! I knew we forgot something._

.o.

Oliver sat gently rubbing Sharpay's back, trying to soothe her when he saw two employees questioning a couple.

"Someone's buuussssted," Oliver whispered quietly, snickering a little.

Sharpay's eyes flickered open and her eyes focused on the pair. Her mouth dropped open and she jerked up.

"Sharpay, what's wrong?" Oliver asked, concerned.

"I think that's my…brother!"

"Really? Dude, he must be in serious trouble."

"What the hell is he doing here?" Sharpay cried, anger taking over. Yet then she realized this was her brother, her twin brother and as much as she didn't care for him right now, she had to get him out of this mess. That is what a twin is for after all! "I've gotta go help him."

Oliver stood up and shook his head. "Allow me. We don't want Troy to see you now, do we."

"You're right," Sharpay agreed, sighing. "OK fine." She pulled their tickets out of her pocket and handed them to Oliver. "Give the man these tickets and just tell him we were holding them."

"Brilliant, Shar!" Oliver exclaimed and smiled at her admiringly. "Be right back."

Oliver raced down the stairs on the side of the theater and into the midst of the confusion.

"Excuse me sir, is there a problem?" Oliver asked as he strutted over to stand in between the manager and Ryan and Gabriella.

The pair gave him a weird look, but he winked slyly at them as if to tell them he would take care of everything.

The manager threw him a crazy look and sputtered out nervously, "Y-yes, these two seem to have snuck in without tickets."

"These two?" Oliver asked appalled as he pointed to the pair. "Not possible."

He pulled out the tickets and handed them to the manager. "I have their tickets right here. We came together and I just stuck all the tickets in my pocket," Oliver announced smoothly.

The manager appeared flustered and tugged at his navy blue tie nervously. "I-I see. Terribly sorry. Enjoy your movie," he replied shortly, and turned on his heel dragging the teen employee with him.

Ryan grinned as the pair walked away and stood up to greet Oliver.

"Thanks man, you really saved us."

Gabriella gave a small smile. She didn't really like all the lying that had been involved in this, but really she and Ryan had honestly forgotten about getting tickets in their haste to watch out for Sharpay. I mean it had been for a good cause.

"Yeah, thanks so much," she chirped in cheerfully.

"No problem," Oliver said, smiling. "So you're Sharpay's brother?"

"Yeah," Ryan said holding his hand out. "Ryan."

"Oliver," Oliver replied, shaking his hand.

Ryan nodded, dropping his hand and wrapping it around Gabriella's shoulders. "This is Gabriella."

Oliver smirked knowingly and gave Ryan a sly wink. As in dude she's smoking hot, nice score. "Pleased to meet you both."

Ryan glanced up at Sharpay who gave him a disapproving look and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I guess our disguises didn't exactly work."

Oliver laughed. "Guess not. Sharpay figured you out pretty quickly."

"So how bout we get the heck out of here and move on with our day," Oliver suggested.

"Sounds good," Gabby replied giggling.

"I'll go get Shar," Ryan announced. He playfully tweaked Gabriella's nose and began walking up the stairs leaving Oliver and Gabriella in the middle of the theater.

.o.

"Shar," Ryan said as he approached her.

"Don't even talk to me right now, Ryan," she answered.

"We have to talk," he said firmly and Sharpay threw him a funny look. She didn't like this new, confident Ryan. I mean, she gave him props for it and all, but it was seriously annoying how he didn't back down to her anymore. She'd lost her authority. Well at least for now.

"But not here," he added, cocking a head towards Troy and Emma. "Let's just get outta here, Shar, please?"'

Sharpay sighed and nodded standing up. She sniffled a little and Ryan protectively threw his arms around her as they walked back down towards Oliver and Gabriella.

"We're gonna go talk real quick if that's ok," Ryan announced to them both quietly.

Gabriella and Oliver both nodded and smiled understandingly.

Ryan led Sharpay out through the Exit of the theater into the hall back behind the theater.

"Why are you here, Ryan?" Sharpay demanded, eyes blazing.

"I'm sorry, Shar, ok? I was only here because I was looking out for you, but I realize I can't always be there for you. I have to let you make your own mistakes, do what you want. It's gonna be hard, but I'll try and not be so protective. Just please don't be mad at me." Ryan shot out, before she could say another word.

Sharpay teared up a little, and laughed as she swiped away a tear. "God, Ryan. Do you always have to be so goddamn good?"

Chuckling, Ryan enveloped her in a big hug, squeezing her tight. "Apparently nobody likes this quality of mine. I believe that's the second time today I've been asked that. Though you said it a bit more crudely," he joked.

"Ryan, I know I don't say it enough, maybe never, but I do appreciate you. I don't know what I'd do without you. You're always there for me, even when I don't deserve it. I should be the one asking for forgiveness."

Ryan smiled broadly. Hell it wasn't too often that Sharpay said things like this.

"I think we're both forgiven," he said, grinning. "I love you Shar."

"I love you too, Ry," she replied sweetly.

"Now, lets get back to our peeps."

"Ryan, did you just say peeps?"

"No."

"Yes you did, you dork," Sharpay said laughing.

"Come on, don't you wanna get back to Oliver," he elbowed Sharpay. "He seems like a very nice boy."

Sharpay laughed. "One, you sound like Mother, and two, ewww. I don't like Oliver like that."

"Fine, fine," Ryan said nonchalantly. "Whatever you say."

"Enough about me…for once," Sharpay added quickly, smirking. "How was your _date_? It was a date wasn't it?"

"I guess," Ryan said shyly. "It was really good. I really like her a lot."

"And she likes you back?" Sharpay prodded eagerly.

"Yeah," Ryan said happily. "She does."

"Aw, Ryan! Your first girlfriend! I'm gonna buy you a box of condoms."

Ryan blushed crimson. "Shar, if you do…"

"Kidding!" she added, giggling. "But I am happy for you. Any girl would be lucky to have you. I've trained you well."

"Hey, you get all the credit?" he teased.

Sharpay ignored his question and dragged him back into the theater.

"Everything cool," Oliver asked wearily, afraid the two wanted to kill each other.

"Fabulous," Sharpay said, kissing Ryan's cheek to prove her point.

"He's all yours now," Sharpay said, placing Ryan's hand in Gabriella's, causing both to blush.

Oliver laughed as Sharpay walked over to him. Nodding towards Ryan he said, "You two crazy kids have fun. I got her."

Sharpay stuck her tongue out at Oliver, but turned back around and motioned to Ryan he was free to go.

"I think they want us to leave," Gabriella whispered, giggling.

"Shall we?" Ryan asked, hand still locked in hers.

"Gladly," Gabriella answered as they exited the theater.

.o.

"So where to Princess?" Oliver asked.

"Who said I was going anywhere with you," Sharpay teased.

"I believe you owe me, leading me on like you did…" "Oh stop it! Can't you get over it all ready?" "I can if you grab some grub with yours truly."

"Fine, but it has to be sophisticated," Sharpay insisted, grabbing Oliver's hand and dragging him out of the theater.

Oliver grinned. Hey he had Sharpay's mind off of Troy and on _him. _Things may work out in his favor after all.

.o.

Troy had been so enraptured in what had just happened with Emma, that he wasn't even paying attention to the movie. He was thinking long and hard about Emma, Sharpay, and Gabriella. How had he gotten himself into this mess?

_Who knew vacation could be so stressful? _he thought bitterly.

_Fine but it has to be sophisticated._

Troy whipped his head around. That sounded like Sharpay!

Straining his eyes in the dark he searched for the blonde and she was nowhere to be found.

_It was just my imagination, _Troy thought glumly.

.o.

**So this is a little short but I just wanted to wrap up most of the theater stuff and move on with the three separate pairs, so look forward to:**

**Conclusion of Troy and Emma's "date"**

**Ryan and Gabby's continued date**

**And Sharpay and Oliver's dinner**

**Thanks so much for being patient and being such faithful readers! I appreciate it so much!**


	16. Burgers and Boredom

**Never Felt This Way**

The credits began to roll down the screen and Troy nervously looked over at Emma who remained emotionless. Her eyes looked lifeless as she stared at the screen.

He stood up slowly, stretching his arms out.

"Oh, it's over," Emma mumbled distractedly.

Troy nodded and watched her stand up.

"After you," he said awkwardly motioning for her to exit first.

Emma obliged and began to walk up the ramp towards the exit. Troy followed, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he walked behind her.

The pair walked on in silence and exited the theater out into the hallway.

"So about the whole kissing thing?" Troy brought up abruptly.

"It never happened," Emma stated.

"Ok," Troy said with a smile. "Friends?"

"Why not?" Emma replied and smiled at him.

Troy grinned back. So things with Emma hadn't really worked out, but hell they were "friends" now. At least he could factor one girl out of the complicated equation.

.o.

Sharpay followed Oliver to the elevator and impatiently pushed the button.

"Let's just get this over with," she muttered.

Oliver chuckled. "Am I such terrible company?"

"No," Sharpay said quietly. "I'm sorry, I just have had a rough couple of days."

"I know," Oliver whispered, taking her hand and squeezing her hand.

The elevator opened and Oliver led Sharpay in.

"Why do you like him anyway?" Oliver asked curiously, a tinge of sadness apparent.

"I…don't know," Sharpay answered honestly. "I've always liked him, ever since I first laid eyes on him. I think it was just something about his eyes or I don't know…" Sharpay trailed off, embarrassed.

Oliver smiled sadly. "I see."

"At the risk of sounding completely sappy and cliché, it was kinda love at first sight, you know."

"Yeah," Oliver replied softly.

The elevator doors opened and Sharpay and Oliver stepped out and to the side.

"So where are you taking me?" Sharpay asked cheerfully, attempting to change the tone of the evening around. She really did like Oliver, as a friend, and she didn't want to seem ungrateful or as if she didn't want to spend time with him.

"Somewhere _sophisticated," _Oliver replied cheekily.

Sharpay pinched his side and he laughed.

"Good," she said huffily. "I won't settle for anything less."

"Oh I'm sure," Oliver said smiling affectionately.

.o.

Ryan and Gabriella made it around the corner when Gabriella stopped.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"We're still in disguise," Gabriella replied, giggling.

"Oh…yeah," Ryan said laughing.

Gabriella pulled off Ryan's hat and shook out her long hair.

"Here," she said placing Ryan's hat back on his head.

He grinned and started to tuck his shirt back in. Gabriella grabbed his hands though before he could begin.

"Leave it untucked," she whispered.

Ryan smiled and said, "Leave your sweater off."

Gabriella blushed and untied the sweater from her waist, stuffing it in her bag. "Deal."

She took off her glasses tucking them back in her bag and pulled out his red sweater vest.

"But put your vest on. I like it," she said sweetly, handing it to him.

Ryan obliged, pulling the vest back over his shirt.

Gabriella turned towards him and ran her hands down his vest. "It's so soft," she murmured.

Ryan chuckled and kissed her. "Not as soft as your lips."

Gabriella blushed. "So where are we going?"

"Well, hmmm, let's see. What _are _our options? We could go ice skating, or we could go outside, or we could go to the gym, but that doesn't really sound like much fun."

Gabriella laughed. "Let's go ice skating."

"Sounds great."

.o.

Troy and Emma walked down the hallway towards her room, both chattering away about…_Lost_. Apparently both watched the show.

"I mean what do you think is gonna happen in the next season? I just can't wait. If Jack and Kate don't get together I'll just die," Emma spewed, dramatically.

It was quite clear to Troy that she obviously liked to have long conversations debating what could happen on the show. Not really his thing. He really just watched it cause there were some pretty sweet fights sometimes and the girls were pretty hot.

"I think Shannon should come back."

"Of course you do," Emma said laughing. "She was pretty." "Yes she was," Troy said, licking his lips jokingly.

Emma slapped him playfully as they reached her door.

"Well here's me," she said softly.

"Yep," Troy said.

She turned to unlock the door, but he turned her around and kissed her again, long and hard. Lingering near her, he looked into her eyes and whispered, "Just once more."

Looking a little starry-eyed, Emma merely nodded quickly and said bye as she ducked into her room.

Damn he would miss kissing here, although really he had only done so for a mere two hours, but still. She and him together were like indescribable. It was like shabamm, do you feel as good as I do right now?

Sighing a little, Troy stretched his arms out and made his way towards the elevator. What now?

.o.

Oliver abruptly stopped in front of a glass front restaurant with tons of tables of tables sprinkled all over the area with expensive-looking tablecloths topping them. Only candles lit up the entire place, with the exception of a gorgeous chandelier hanging in the center of the restaurant.

"Is this _acceptable_?" Oliver asked, an amused grin on his face.

"Uh yeah," Sharpay answered bluntly. "The place looks… very nice," Sharpay slowed down, the snooty air of her voice back again.

Oliver laughed and they entered the restaurant.

The hostess looked at the pair confused and asked, "Are you waiting for someone?"

Oliver gave her a weird look. "Uh no, we're here to eat. Table for two."

The hostess smiled and said sweetly, "This is a place for adults who can afford our prices. Why don't you go to the burger joint across from here? I'm sure you can afford something there."

Without skipping a beat, Oliver pulled a black credit card from his wallet, and held it up. "Well let's see. I may not be an _adult_, but I sure as hell can damn well pay, thank you very much."

Sharpay giggled as the woman's face turned bright red. "Right this way," she said tightly, picking up two menus and scuffling over to an empty table.

She quickly threw the menus on the table, did a quick bow, and scurried away.

Oliver pulled a chair out for Sharpay and she sat down, allowing him to push it in. He then walked around and sat down across from her, a scowl on his face, obviously perturbed from what had just happened.

"Oliver- 2, Hostess- 0," Sharpay said in a low announcer's voice causing Oliver to crack a smile.

"Wait why do I get two points?" he asked, curiously.

"Well you get one point for that little comeback, I mean come one pulling out the card like that, her face was like completely hilarious," Sharpay said laughing. "And you get another point because I mean did you see her? She actually like bowed down to you."

"She kinda did, didn't she?" Oliver said laughing.

"Yeah," Sharpay said, still giggling.

"I mean could you believe her nerve? As if I can't pay," Oliver said bitterly. "I'm not some idiot who doesn't know that I'm not gonna get away with a twenty dollar check in here."

Sharpay reached over and patted his hand comfortingly. "She's a bitch!" Sharpay said causing Oliver to chuckle. "Don't let her get to you, Olly."

"I won't," Oliver said confidently. "But it still pisses me off."

"I know, Olly, I know," Sharpay said.

.o.

"We better change first though," Gabriella said.

Ryan gasped dramatically. "But I really like that tank top."

Gabriella giggled. "Well sorry, mister, but I'm not skating in something sleeveless. I'm not that great, and its pretty much inevitable that I'm gonna fall."

"I won't let you fall," Ryan said.

"I bet you're an amazing skater."

"Well, I don't know about that…"

"Oh don't be humble, Ryan. I mean you're dancing surely factors in to balance which then factors into skating."

"OK, so maybe I have a little experience with it," Ryan said with a chuckle. "But only cause Sharpay pretty much insisted that we take joint lessons when we were eight."

"Oh wow," Gabriella gulped. "I've only skated like three times in my life."

"That's ok, Gabs. It'll be fun," he reassured her, patting her back softly as they reached her room.

Planting a light kiss on her lips, he said, "You go change, and so will I and I'll meet you back here."

"Okay," Gabby replied, giving him one last worried smile, as she shut the door behind her.

.o.

So where are you from?" Sharpay asked, trying to change the subject.

"Small town outside of Denver, so I live like a couple hours from here," Oliver replied.

"So you must come here a lot. I wonder why I never see you."

"Oh well, we usually don't come this time of year. We come like around Thanksgiving."

"Oh, ok. I live in New Mexico and we always come here for Christmas, since me and Ryan were three."

"That's cool. So we're not too far apart."

"Yeah," Sharpay said. "And you know if you came for Christmas again next year, we'd see each other again. I mean, not that I'd be like heartbroken if I never saw you again or anything, but it'd be nice."

Oliver grinned and said, "I get it. But we better figure out what we're gonna eat."

Oh, right," Sharpay said and opened up her menu.

"I think I'm gonna have a burger," Oliver said, with a smile.

"Wait, we come to this really nice restaurant and you want a burger!"

"Well, yeah. You're the one who wanted fancy food, not me."

"But still, a burger," Sharpay said, laughing. "Hold up, this isn't like a subtle dig at the hostess is it?"

"Maybe," Oliver said grinning mischievously.

"Oliver…what's your last name?" Sharpay asked.

"Matthews."

"Oliver Matthews, that is a very evil thing to do…I love it!"

Oliver chuckled. "What are you gonna have?"

"A burger," Sharpay said decidedly.

Oliver's eyes bugged out. "Are you serious?"

"What? I'm not gonna let you have all the fun."

"Okay."

The waitress walked over and asked, "What can I get you two to drink this evening?"

"Shar," Oliver gestured for her to order first.

"I'll have water with lemon."

"I'll have a _coke,_" Oliver said informally on purpose.

"Very well," the waitress replied faux politely, with obvious distaste of his ordering a soda at an expensive restaurant.

"Oh and we'll have two cheeseburgers," Oliver said grinning at the awfulness of it all.

The waitress looked appalled and replied, "We don't serve cheeseburgers at this establishment."

"I'm sure your fine establishment can conjure up a couple cheeseburgers for some _well-paying _customers if they are able to make lobster bisque and filet mignon. I mean that has to be a step down, right?" Oliver said rather loudly as the flustered hostess whisked by.

"Um, yes sir, I'm sure we can," the waitress replied humbly, once again captivated by the powerful and honest ways Oliver possessed.

"Thank you," Oliver said, satisfied.

Sharpay laughed. "Wow, you're not near as boring as I thought you were," she joked.

Oliver pretended to look pained and chuckled along with her.

.o.

Troy reached his room and unlocked the door, walking inside. His parents were at some stupid event about Christmas candles or something, so the place was empty.

Troy sighed and slumped down on the sofa. Now what was there to do? Suddenly he remembered what Gabriella has said the other night about how he could call her sometime and they could hang out.

Troy reached for his phone and arrowed down his address book until he found her number. After hesitating for just a second, he pressed the green call button and held the phone up to his ear, listening to it dial.

.o.

**Whoa, once again sorry for such a late update. But here it was and I hope you liked it.**

**Thank you to all you faithful readers and reviewers. You guys rock for being so patient!**


	17. Reality

**Never Felt This Way**

"Troy," Gabriella said softly as she wound a long cream colored scarf around her neck.

"Gabriella," Troy said long and drawn out, clearly happy she had answered the phone.

"Did you need something?" Gabriella asked distractedly as she rummaged through her closet for her ice skates.

"I, uh, was just thinking about yesterday and you saying we should hang out some time. You free?"

"Oh Troy, I'm sorry but I can't. Ryan and I are going ice skating."

"Oh," Troy said, instantly feeling jealous. Ryan was one of those extraordinarily graceful kids who could probably do triple axles while singing a show tune impeccably. Troy had a hard time standing on his skates without falling on his ass. "That sounds fun."

"Yeah," Gabriella said. Feeling bad she added, "We could do something tomorrow though…"

"Really?" Troy asked, hopefully. Sweet, she wanted to spend time with him.

Gabriella sighed a little at his obvious enthusiasm. He was clearly looking forward to this. She, on the other hand, would much rather spend the next day with Ryan. Doing anything, as long as it was with Ryan.

"Yeah, say noon." Might as well get it over with. She had told him they could hang out after all, and Gabriella would have felt terribly guilty if she never did anything with him.

"Sure. I'll come by your room."

"See you then," Gabriella said sweetly. "Bye," Troy said.

Gabriella sighed as she hung up the phone. She bent down to tie her up her sneakers when she heard a sharp rap at her door. _Ryan_.

Was it weird that her heart sunk a little at the thought that while she was getting ready to go out with Ryan, she was making plans with Troy? I mean, it wasn't like she was going on a date with Troy. They were just gonna hang out. Gabriella shook her head. There was no reason to feel this way.

"Coming," she called out as she threw her skates in a leather bag and ran to the door.

Undoing the deadbolt she flung the door open to reveal a very cozy looking Ryan. He was wearing a dark purple cashmere sweater, brown corduroy pants, and white and purple sneakers. He had on a purple beanie hat and a white scarf. His cheeks were flushed with excitement.

"Hey, so I was thinking, uh, we could go down, rent our skates, hit the rink,"

"Uh, Ryan, I'm gonna hang out with Troy tomorrow," Gabby blurted out, suddenly.

Ryan's face fell and then he quickly recovered. "Oh, uh, ok."

"No, I mean. I didn't mean to say it like that," Gabby said in a rush.

Ryan stepped inside and Gabby shut the door behind them. Ryan followed Gabby into the living area and they plopped down on the couch.

"You see," Gabriella began nervously. "You know at the Christmas Eve party when I was playing pool with Troy and you walked up. Well, you know, when I left with you I felt really bad about leaving Troy after we'd been hanging out, or whatever. So I told him we could do something sometime. So he called and was like, hey you wanna do something. And I was like, obviously, oh I can't I have plans with _Ryan, _and he was like ok and he just sounded so sad that I sorta told him we could do something. And I really don't want to, but I'm just one of those people that really likes to try and please everyone and I hate making people upset and well I know you may be upset and I'm sorry. But you know I should just go and get it over with now and it won't be a big deal you know. Just a couple hours and…"

Ryan placed a tender kiss on her lips, interrupting her babbling.

"So you're ok with it," Gabby, asked shocked, having a hard time breathing. God, what Ryan did to her!

"Yes," Ryan said, confidently. "I'm great with it. You and Troy should have a good time and it will be a chance for me to get in some time with Sharpay." Gabby hugged Ryan and then kissed him on the cheek. "Oh, Ryan. I'm so glad. You know I'd rather spend time with you."

"I know," Ryan said, faux cockily. "Kidding. But I'm glad you feel that way."

"I'll always feel that way," Gabriella answered, sincerely.

Ryan beamed, a huge smile on his face. "Let's skate!"

.o.

Oliver took a huge bite out of his cheeseburger and chewed thoughtfully. "Not bad," he offered.

Sharpay smirked and nibbled daintily on her burger. "I can't even remember the last time I had a cheeseburger."

Oliver's eyes grew wide. "Are you serious? I eat one like everyday."

Sharpay blushed a little. "I'm on these diets my mother puts me on and they usually don't permit things like burgers." "Diets?" Oliver exclaimed, outraged. "Sharpay, why are you on a diet? To not sound completely perverted, you have a great body. I mean you must be pretty active. You can probably eat whatever you want."

Sharpay blushed even deeper, something that never happened. Usually she would've launched into this grand monologue about how great her body is and talk about her daily routines and sound incredibly vain. But being with Oliver made her more humble, not so boastful. It was odd. It was like she wanted to be a better person when she was around him.

"I dance a lot," Sharpay offered meekly.

"I figured," Oliver replied, taking a sip of his soda. "You were fantastic for the brief moment we danced together at the banquet." Oliver teased.

Sharpay laughed. "I really am sorry about that, Olly."

"I'm sensing what you just said is huge," Oliver said. "You don't seem the type to apologize too often.

Sharpay glared at him. "Just accept the damn apology.

"Now there's the real Sharpay," Oliver joked. "I accept."

"Thank you," Sharpay said, haughtily, but she was trying not to smile.

.o.

"You're a coward," Troy told himself bitterly as he paced around his hotel bedroom. "You're an asshole who's just making all these plans with all the wrong girls because you're afraid. You're afraid that you like Sharpay, you're afraid that you want to be with her. You're afraid of what she does to you, how she makes you feel."

Troy fell back on his bed and groaned loudly. What was he gonna do with Gabriella tomorrow? Did he really want to flirt with her and all that other shit he had been planning?

He thought about it for a second. No, he really didn't. He would never admit it to anyone at school, but he had always had a thing for the Evans twins.

He'd always thought Sharpay was hot. Everyone did. She was just such a bitch half the time that no one wanted to date her. But he'd always had this feeling that that really wasn't Sharpay. That was just who she put out to the world because she didn't know how to be herself.

And now being here at the Lodge, he had seen glimpses of what he knew must be the real Sharpay. Not the girl who cared too much about her hair and makeup or getting her shoes scuffed. He'd seen a girl who hugged him when he was upset over Gabriella. A girl who had followed him to the bathroom to make sure he was all right. And he liked that. He liked to know there was more to Sharpay Evans then the diva he knew from school.

And then there was Ryan. He was so… mysterious. The kid who never said anything, who followed his sister around like he was on a leash. The one everyone always questioned as to which sex he preferred. He was so quiet and then, he got on stage and it was like he was a whole other person. (Yes Troy had been to one play because he had to go to a cultural event for extra credit in English to pass for the marking period.) He was confident and charming, and he sang and danced really well. Troy was blown away. If the dude acted like that all the time, he'd sure as hell get some girls… or guys.

And now, he had one. A girl. Not a boy. He wasn't gay, for sure now. Troy had never really thought he was, but Chad had other theories, as did others because of his style.

But anyways he had a great girl. Troy wasn't gonna mess that up. He knew Ryan was a good guy. He deserved it. And Troy really didn't want to do anything to make Sharpay mad. Yet if she had heard about his date with Emma, she was probably angry already.

Troy didn't usually think this deeply, but really the twins fascinated him. Feeling exhausted, he closed his eyes and feel asleep. Well he was sure as hell gonna dream about the Evans tonight.

.o.

Ryan and Gabriella made there way to the renting center and Ryan rapped his knuckles on the counter as he scanned the racks of black and white skates along the back wall.

"Uh, I need a size 9," Ryan said to the man behind the counter. "Gabs?"

"Oh I have some," Gabriella said, pulling her skates out of her bag.

"Awesome," Ryan said, grinning as the man handed him a pair of black and purple skates.

The two sat on the bench and Ryan expertly put on his skates in a matter of seconds. On the other, Gabriella sat staring at her untied skates.

Ryan grinned. "Gabby, do you need me to lace them up for you?"

Gabriella smiled sheepishly and nodded.

Ryan chuckled and bent down in front of her tugging at the laces and making sure they were tight.

"There we go," he said, standing up and taking her hands, helping her to her feet.

Gabby looked a little wobbly on her skates and Ryan smiled. "You're so cute," he cooed.

"I've got you," Ryan said, wrapping his arm around her waist, and taking hold of her hand, pressing their entangled hands to her waist.

"Promise," Gabriella gulped as they neared the entrance to the ice rink.

"Promise," Ryan repeated.

The two edged onto the ice.

As soon as they made it onto the rink, Gabby grabbed onto the wall with her free hand, pulling Ryan to face the wall with her.

"Gabby," Ryan, laughed. "C'mon, we don't have to stay stuck to the wall.

"Yes we do," Gabriella stuttered. "I'll fall on my butt if we don't."

"I told you. I won't let you fall." Ryan said sincerely, staring deep into her eyes. "Trust me."

"Okay," she whispered, his blue eyes hypnotizing her, and let go of the railing. Slowly, Ryan skated out to the center of the rink, his arm still firm around Gabriella's waist keeping her balance with his.

"See this isn't scary," Ryan said softly, kissing the top of her white cap topped head. "You're safe."

Gabriella smiled a little. "Maybe skating isn't so bad." She paused and looked down at her shiny, white skates and whispered. "I like it when you hold me like this."

Ryan grinned. "I like it too," he whispered back.

The few people that had been skating on the rink trickled off the rink and it was now empty. _Silver Bells_ played softly from the speakers surrounding the rink and long strands of white lights hung from the ceiling casting light in every direction. The atmosphere was calm and peaceful. Not to mention romantic.

Ryan carefully spun Gabriella around, throwing both his arms around her waist to keep her steady.

"What are you doing?" Gabby asked, frightened. Struggling with how to keep balance she placed both her hands on Ryan's strong arms.

"Kissing you," Ryan responded and pressed his lips to hers.

.o.

"Are you gonna leave a tip?" Sharpay asked, curiously when the check came and Oliver sat scribbling on it with a blue pen.

"Yep," Oliver said gleefully. "Fifty cents."

Sharpay gasped. "They are gonna kill you."

"They won't even realize it till we're gone," Oliver assured her, sticking a stack of cash and two of his worst looking quarters in the check holder. "I'm paying cash and its not like I'm coming back."

Sharpay laughed as she gathered up her coat and handbag.

"Ok, on the count of three we hightail it out of here."

"You mean run!" Sharpay exclaimed, a look of horror on her face. "I'm in heels."

"1…2…3!" Oliver whispered and hopped out of his chair, dashing towards the door.

Sharpay sighed and wobbled after him, throwing apologetic smiles to the horrified employees who looked like they were going to drop their platter of dishes on the floor at any moment.

Sharpay chased Oliver down the hallway where he finally stopped in front of the elevators.

He pressed the button as she reached him, panting heavily, a mischievous smile on his face.

Sharpay stopped in front of him, looking a little peeved. She bent over unhooked the straps on her heels and slid them off throwing them in her oversized bag.

"You're not mad, are you?" Oliver asked. "You can't be. I mean, wasn't that such a rush? Wasn't it exhilarating?"

His mood was infectious and Sharpay gave a wry grin. "Sort of. But now my feet are killing me."

The door opened and the pair filed in. "I'm sorry," Oliver said. "But may I say, your pedicure is remarkable. What a fantastic shade of pink…"

"Shut up, Oliver," Sharpay said and jokingly kicked his butt with the back her foot.

"Hey," Oliver cried, jumping back.

Sharpay giggled. "Thanks for today," she said quietly. "It was nice."

"Anytime," Oliver said.

The doors flung open and they walked down the hall to Sharpay's room.

When they reached the door, Sharpay flung her arms around Oliver, hugging him and pecking him on the cheek. "I'm glad we can be friends Olly. I'll call ya tomorrow!"

"Yeah me too, but, uh, you know don't hesitate to inform me of her undying devotion to me when you realize it," Oliver deadpanned.

"You slay me," Sharpay said rolling her eyes. "Goodnight."

"Night," Oliver said with a smirk as he watched her walk inside and shut the door.

.o.

Ryan and Gabriella sipped on hot chocolate as they walked back to Gabby's room.

"This was really fun," Gabriella gushed, blowing on her cup. "Best skating experience I've ever had. I didn't fall, I didn't get my butt covered in ice, it was amazing. But most of all, I loved it because it was with you."

Ryan smiled sheepishly. "Best I've had too."

Gabriella grinned. "I wish I could spend tomorrow with you," she whispered forlornly.

Ryan pulled her into a hug as they reached the door. "Me too. But you know what, I don't want you to worry about me when you're having a great time with Troy, ok? Me and Sharpay will go to the spa, or watch some musicals or something. And then you can join us after Troy, ok?"

"Ok," Gabriella agreed and kissed him. "Night Ry."

"Night Gabs," Ryan said.

"_I love you," _he thought as she closed the door. It was a little soon to feel that way, and definitely too soon to say it, but he was pretty sure he did… love her.

.o.

**Hope this was enjoyable! I'm sorry it takes me so long to update. So realistically, I'm gonna say it will usually take two weeks too update. But I will always update eventually! I won't leave you hanging. Lol**

**Thanks all for reading!!**


	18. Karma

**Never Felt This Way**

"This really…" Ryan trailed off lazily, slumped on the sofa in the living area of his hotel suite.

"Suckssss," Sharpay said slowly, dragging out the _s _as she sat slumped beside him.

They both sat on the couch, eyes staring blankly at the television. Some cartoon was on about some football head shaped kid and this girl with like a unibrow and these crazy stick-straight pigtails.

"What the hell are we even watching?" Sharpay asked in a whiny voice.

Ryan sighed. "Hey Arnold! Only one of the most amazing, classic Nicktoons ever."

"You're such a nerd," Sharpay said annoyed, drawing her legs up to her chin.

"Just because you're pissed off, doesn't mean you get to say things like that," Ryan said defensively, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt up over his head and crossing his arms.

"I know," Sharpay said, in a small voice. "I'm sorry for being such a bitch, ok?" she murmured, as she rested her head on Ryan's shoulder.

Ryan patted her head, absentmindedly and cringed a little. "It's ok. Just don't say that word. I really don't like that word."

"What word?" Sharpay asked. "Sorry?"

"No, not that one," Ryan said rolling his eyes. "The b word," he whispered, like a little kid who didn't want to get in trouble by saying a bad word.

Sharpay giggled. "Ok, Ryan. I won't say the _b word_ anymore. At least not in front of you."

"Thank you," Ryan said, satisfied, and started fiddling around with her hair.

"You're roots are brown," Ryan stated, as he examined the top of her head.

"Seriously," Sharpay said, laughing. "Ryan, if I didn't know you well enough, I would think you were gay. You wanna go down to the salon or something."

Ryan appeared hurt, and ignoring her last statement, he began babbling out excuses. "Well, Shar, seeing as I was practically raised by you and Mom because Dad was always out on business, I didn't have much of a manly figure in my life. So, that is why I notice stupid, girly things like your roots, and the fact that your pedicure is chipping, and that this shade of green looks horrific on you."

Sharpay frowned and examined her toes and top. "Fine. Once again, I'm sorry for being such a b…"

Ryan glared at her, his shiny blue eyes begging her not to continue.

"B-witch," Sharpay concluded, smirking, as she lifted her head off his shoulder and rose off the couch.

"Go change," she commanded, bossily. "We're going to the salon," she called as she strutted to her room.

Ryan groaned and then suddenly brightened, calling after her, "Can I get that mint facial thing?"

"Yes, you gir-_Ryan_," she corrected in a snotty tone.

Ryan smiled and heaved himself up off the couch. Maybe going to the salon was just what they needed to get their minds off Troy and Gabriella.

"What do you mean this shade of green looks horrible on me?" Sharpay cried.

Ryan moaned as he stalked off to Sharpay's room muttering, "You'd think she'd realize how horrible light green goes with her skin tone…"

.o.

Troy's eyes fluttered open and he stretched his arms out slowly. Looking down, he realized he was still wearing yesterday's clothes. He must have fallen asleep early last night.

Wait didn't he have something to do today? He yawned, still feeling extremely sleep. It was like he was so tired he couldn't think clearly.

Was it brunch with his parents? _Nah, that was like three weeks ago back in Albuquerque. _Was it basketball practice? _No, he was on vacation._

"Oh shit!" Troy yelped, hopping out of bed and darting over to the clock. _11:45._

"Shit, shit, shit," he cursed. "I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late," he cried, tripping to the bathroom.

"Let's see," he whispered to himself, quietly. His hair was a mess, he was wearing yesterday's jeans and tee, and he had something on his face.

He splashed water on his face and scrubbed hard, desperately tried to smooth down his cowlick, and threw off his shirt.

He raced over to his suitcase and pulled out a blue tee shirt. He had blue eyes surely the shirt would make him look halfway decent. He hurriedly threw it on, grabbing his basketball sneakers on the way out of his room.

He hopped down the hallway, trying to pull on his shoes, muttering, "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

He looked up to find his parents sitting on the couch staring at him with horrified expressions on their faces.

His eyes grew wide as he paused and dropped to the floor, fumbling with his shoelaces. "Uh, sorry," he offered, tying each shoe and springing on to his feet, hoisting his jeans up.

"What on earth are you doing, Troy Liam Bolton?" his mother asked.

"Uh, I'm really late for something. I gotta go," he said in a rush as he dashed out the door.

Halfway down the hall, he realized he'd forgotten his wallet.

"Damn it!" he growled, much to the surprise of a little girl who was walking down the hallway.

"Sorry," he mumbled in her direction. "I'm, uh, really sorry."

The girl nodded as if she were in a trance and he offered her a crazy most likely psycho-looking smile, as he turned around and raced back down the hall to his room.

Stumbling back into the suite he ran into his room, calling out breathlessly to no one in particular, "Forgot my wallet!"

Stuffing it in his back pocket, he rushed back out yelling, "BYE!"

"Have fun?" his dad questioned, utterly confused.

.o.

"I'm sick of arguing about this!" Ryan yelled hopelessly.

"Well, I just wanna know why this color looks bad on me!" Sharpay yelled back.

"I don't know, like I've told you a million times it just doesn't!"

"But can't you give me a reason?"

"Gosh, I'm sorry I even brought this up," Ryan muttered to himself. "No, I can't. You know what just wear light green from head to toe! See if I care!" he screamed as he walked out of the room.

"Wait! Ryan!" Sharpay called out.

Fuming, Ryan took a deep breath and turned back around. "What?" he asked tightly.

"You're right. It does look bad." Sharpay whispered meekly.

"Damn straight I'm right!" Ryan snarled exasperated.

Sharpay giggled and soon Ryan was laughing to.

"You sound so funny saying cuss words," Sharpay gasped between fits of laughter. "You're just such a goodie that its so hilarious when you say them."

"I only say them when I'm mad," Ryan mumbled thoughtfully. "I don't really care for them all that much."

"I know," Sharpay said simply. "Ok, we really gotta get dressed now."

"Ok," Ryan replied, walking off to his room.

Ryan reached his room and was stalking towards his closet when his cell phone went off.

Reaching for it, he didn't even look at it before he answered it.

"Hello?" he questioned.

"It's me."

"Shar? I just talked to you."

"I know. I was gonna ask you if it would be ok if I called Oliver and invited him."

"Uh, ok. Sure. But is this really his kinda thing?" Ryan asked, doubtfully.

"No. But he may be bored and come. I just thought I would be nice and ask," Sharpay said edgily.

"No, no, no," Ryan rambled. God her and her freaking mood swings. "It's very nice. You should call."

"Ok. I will!" she exclaimed cheerily.

"Ok," Ryan said in a dorky, duh-ish voice. "Bye."

"Toodles!"

Ryan rolled his eyes and pulled on a blue argyle sweater and khaki slacks. Sharpay could be so weird.

.o.

Sharpay dialed Oliver's number and held the phone up to her ear, perched daintily on the little stool in front of the vanity in her room.

"Sharpay!" Oliver greeted her, in a deep, jazzy voice.

"Olly!" Sharpay chirped. "How are you, darling?" she asked Oliver, playfully, as if she was in some old movie.

Playing along, Oliver replied in a rustic voice, "Very well, sweet'art. And you?"

"Quite splendid" –a giggle- "Ok, seriously, I was calling to see if you wanna come with me and Ryan to the salon? I'm getting my roots touched up and probably a pedicure since _someone _told me I needed one and Ryan's gonna get a facial and he might get his nails buffed. It's actually really not that girly. A lot of really manly men get manicures.."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Oliver interrupted. "You serious?"

"Well yeah. It's cool if you don't want to…"

"I'll go if I can be your masseuse." Oliver offered.

"Oliver!" Sharpay scolded, with a laugh.

"Kidding," he said. "Oh hell. I'll come. I got nothing to do anyway."

"Great. Meet us at there in twenty."

"Uh Sharpay?"

"Yeah?"

"I have no earthly idea where the salon is."

"Oh right. It's on the eleventh floor, room #1156, its called Sally's."

"Cool. See you then."

"Kay. Bye."

"Later."

.o.

Ryan knocked on the door ten minutes later.

"Come in!" Sharpay called.

"Wow, you're actually ready. I believe this is a world record for you."

Ignoring his insulting comment she stated, "I told Oliver we'd meet him in twenty, so we got ten left."

"Oh. So he's coming?"

"Yep," Sharpay answered. Grabbing a bottle off her dresser, she walked over to Ryan and sprayed a little on him.

"What the hell?" Ryan asked. "Did you just spray something on me."

"Yeah," she replied, looking down at the bottle. "Toilet water."

"You mean, eau de toilette, retard?"

"I know. I was kidding."

"Well thank god."

Sharpay narrowed her eyes at him and then sprayed a different perfume on herself. "Ok, let's go."

They started walking out of the suite, getting into yet another fashion argument as they headed towards the elevator.

"Are you seriously wearing that sweater, Ryan?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing, except you look like a dork."

.o.

Troy flew down the hall, finally reaching Gabriella's door and knocked on it repeatedly.

"Right on time," Gabriella chirped, as she opened the door revealing a panting, exhausted Troy.

"Really?" Troy questioned. "YES!" he cried, pumping his fist up in the air before collapsing on the floor.

.o.

"Stop tugging at my shirt," Ryan shout-whispered, shooing away Sharpay's hands.

"Just take your sweater off and wear the shirt you have on underneath it."

"No!"

"Uh, hi guys," Oliver said, awkwardly. It was kind of weird being in a salon with a pair of bickering twins.

"Hi!" Ryan and Sharpay greeted simultaneously, both wearing cheesy no-we-weren't-just-fighting smiles.

"So, uh, now what?"

"Well, I'm gonna go get my roots done, and Ryan's gonna get his facial. Do you want a facial?"

"Not particularly."

"Are you sure?" Ryan asked. His eyes brightened as he spoke. "There really amazing. It leaves you feeling so fresh and revived."

"No thanks," Oliver replied, politely.

"Ok, well I guess you can sit with Ryan while he has his facial. I'm off to the hair section," Sharpay informed them and skipped off.

"Suit yourself, man," Ryan said shrugging his shoulders. "This way."

Ryan led Oliver over to a pair of white reclining chairs and settled into one. "You can just sit there," Ryan told him, gesturing to the seat beside him.

A pretty brunette walked over to Ryan and began prepping him for his facial.

Oliver started open-mouthed at the girl and Ryan, completely unfazed by the woman, chuckled at him. "Dude, you have problems," Ryan whispered, causing Oliver to blush slightly.

An equally gorgeous blonde walked over as well, and stood behind Oliver. "The same?" she questioned.

"Oh, he doesn't-" Ryan began.

"Yes," Oliver said rather loudly, covering up Ryan. "The mint facial."

Ryan smirked and closed his eyes as the girl began applying the light green mixture to his face.

.o.

Gabriella knelt down on the floor beside Troy. "Are you ok?" she asked, softly, her brown eyes filled with worry and concern.

"Yeah," Troy said, turning red with embarrassment, as he sat up. "I just kinda woke up late and I was afraid I wouldn't make it here on time," he confessed sheepishly.

"Awww!" Gabriella said aloud, smiling a little. "You didn't have to rush over here. It would've been ok."

"Nah, I really hate being late," Troy said causing Gabriella to giggle a little.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, first off, we might want to get off the floor," Troy joked.

Gabriella laughed and Troy grabbed her hand, bringing them both to their feet.

"So, I thought we could just go grab something to eat or something," Troy told her.

"Sure," Gabriella said, offering a warm smile.

"Cool," Troy said.

.o.

"Wow, that was really great. Like, wow!" Oliver exclaimed as he and Ryan made their way over to Sharpay.

"Yeah," Ryan said, laughing at his enthusiasm. "You sure are ecstatic for someone who didn't want a facial."

Oliver's eyes bugged out. "I know. I can't believe I almost didn't get one. Man, I'm really glad I did. I love facials. Facials are my new favorite thing now."

Ryan chuckled again as they reached Sharpay who sat getting her pedicure done.

"What color you getting, Shar?" Ryan questioned as he took a seat next to her and Oliver sat on the other side of her.

"Hot pink," Sharpay answered happily.

"I don't know why I asked," Ryan mumbled good-naturedly.

A cute girl with red hair walked up to Ryan and asked, "Would you like anything, sir?"

"I'll have my nails buffed and coated with clear polish, the non-shiny kind," Ryan said politely. "Thanks," he added as she walked off to get the necessary tools.

The red head paused and asked Oliver, "Would you like the same?"

"Oh yeah," Oliver replied, giddily. "Great, I'll go get Lisa," she replied, with a smile.

Sharpay looked over at Ryan, a baffled look on her small features. "Since when does he like this kind of stuff?"

"Since he realized hot girls are part of the equation," Ryan replied with a grin.

Sharpay laughed and chucked Oliver's chin. "You ass," she teased.

"You know," Oliver pondered thoughtfully. "I always thought it was so odd that guys liked this kind of stuff, but now I see why. It's the girls. I mean, in fact I feel like a bit of a retard for not realizing it sooner."

"I give you props, man," Oliver said gesturing towards Ryan. "Dude, you schooled us all."

Ryan and Sharpay began laughing uncontrollably and Oliver just sat there, grinning like a fool.

"Lisa," he said as a smiling, beautiful brunette walked towards him. "Come to papa."

At the last second, the brunette turned to the right and in came a small, mousy looking girl with ratty dishwater blonde hair.

"Hi, I'm Lisa," the girl said meekly as she took one of Oliver's hands and started filing his nails.

"Hi," Oliver replied, slightly dejected. Oliver's face fell as he tried to regain composure, not wanting to frown at the poor girl.

Meanwhile, Ryan and Sharpay were turning bright red as they suppressed their laughter.

.o.

**This chapter was kinda kooky. Lol I kind of felt like writing a lot of weird silly scenes, so yeah hope you liked it!**

**Next chapter:**

**Troy and Gabriella's "date"**

**More Ry/Shar/Olly time**

**Thanks for reading!**


	19. Chim Chim Cheree

**Never Felt This Way**

"So, uh, how's your stay been so far?" Troy questioned nervously, once the pair were seated at a small table at the café on the third floor.

"Well, let's see," Gabriella pondered. "Different. Things that have happened to me in the past few days, I never thought possible." She paused to smile dreamily. "But different in a good, unexpected way."

Troy grimaced a little. "Same, I guess." He stopped, thinking of Emma and Sharpay. "Not so sure if it's good though."

Gabriella frowned a little in a sympathetic way that Troy couldn't help but think of as adorable. "I'm sorry," she muttered, comfortingly always the kindhearted soul.

"Well yeah," he said, cracking a smile. "Not to be a downer or anything."

Gabriella gave a smile back, carefully folding her napkin in her lap.

"So you and Ryan, huh?" Troy forced himself to get out. He was not going to find her adorable. No.

"Yeah," Gabriella whispered blissfully, clearly glowing with happiness.

"I…I think it's, uh, really," Troy began, desperately trying to mean what he was saying. "Great?" he finished, sounding more questioning than sure.

"Really?" Gabriella breathed, relieved, not even noticing the lack of confidence in his statement, or rather question if you were really paying attention.

"Mmmhmm," Troy managed between tight lips. Why was he having such a hard time with this? Was it because it meant he was officially giving up on Gabriella after giving up on Emma and that left Sharpay? Most likely.

"Oh good," Gabriella said, reaching forward to grab his hand. _Not helping. _"I was really worried that you would feel…" she trailed off, withdrawing her hand. _Better. _"Well upset," she whispered, embarrassed. "I don't know, I just got this feeling that you liked me and I uh, really didn't' want to hurt your feelings or anything," she concluded, ducking her head.

Shit. She's so fucking cute. "No, really. Look at this smile," he announced, painting a large, goofy, grin on his face. "Does this look like the face of an upset guy?"

Feeling more comfortable, Gabriella lifted her head back up and smiled sheepishly. "Thanks for being so cool about everything Troy."

"Friends?" he found himself saying rather convincingly. Dude, why wasn't he an actor?

"Definitely," Gabriella said grinning more broadly. "I'm really glad we've sorted everything out."

"Yeah," Troy said trying not to sound crushed. "Me too."

.o.

"Argh, why do the shittiest things always happen to me?" Oliver cried as they exited the spa. "I mean, why God, why?" he yelled dramatically, causing people to stare as he raised his freshly manicured hands on the air and looked to the cream colored ceiling.

Sharpay and Ryan burst into laughter, shaking uncontrollably, leaning against each other for support.

"Why does Ryan get the hottie when he already has a babelicious girlfriend, I don't mean that in a sick way buddy," Oliver said glancing at Ryan. "and I get the nottie? Seriously, what did I do?"

"Shut up before someone calls security!" Sharpay spat breathlessly, trying to cease her laughter.

"Fine," Oliver said, frowning as Sharpay wrapped an arm around his shoulders as they continued down the hall.

"Why couldn't I have Redhead?" Oliver asked babyishly.

"There, there," Sharpay said sarcastically, patting his back. "You didn't stand a chance with her anyway."

Ryan snorted. "Besides, she was totally into me," Ryan said teasingly.

"I know," Oliver said whacking his forehead. "She was all, 'Oh Ryan you're so stylish' 'Oh Ryan stop it, you're toooo funny'. I wanted to barf," Oliver said fake throwing up all over Sharpay.

"G-ross," Sharpay cried, backing away from him. "If you ever seriously did that I would murder you."

"I do not doubt that one bit," Oliver said sincerely.

"Now what?" questioned Ryan, looking around the hall.

"Do they have a strip club here?" Oliver asked, excitedly.

"Ewwww," Sharpay and Ryan moaned simultaneously.

"There's something wrong with you two," Oliver said incredulously.

"You're the one who wants to go watch, well basically live porn and _we're _the abnormal ones," Ryan challenged with amusement.

"Well uh-yeah," Oliver stated as if it were so obvious. "Fine, kiddies, let's go watch fucking Mary Poppins."

Each twin immediately perked up.

"Julie Andrews was genius in that movie," Ryan stated with admiration.

Sharpay clapped her hands and trilled, "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!"

"Ooo, let's go watch!" Sharpay cried, grabbing Ryan and Oliver's hands and dragging them into the elevator with her. "Great idea, Olly!"

"But I was kidding. If we're gonna watch a movie, can we at least watch something that isn't rated G?"

.o.

"You didn't?" Gabriella cried, slapping her hands on her knees as she laughed.

"I really did I think I scared the girl to death. She looked at me like I had just gotten released from the psych ward and was due back immediately."

"Oh Troy," Gabriella sighed. "You are unbelievable, and I can't believe you did all that rushing for me."

"No biggie," Troy replied. "Are you ready to go?"

"Mmmhmm," Gabriella answered, standing along with Troy and exiting the café.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Troy whispered to Gabriella as they ambled down the hallway.

"Sure."

"I kind of, sort of think I like…um…Sharpay."

"Oh my gosh!" Gabriella gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth.

"What, why, has she said anything?" Troy fired out quickly, his eyes wide with curiosity. "Well," Gabriella began, eyes cast down at the burgundy carpet. "I know she wasn't very pleased about your going out with Emma."

"How did she find out?" Troy questioned.

"I, uh, don't know," Gabriella lied, not wanting to divulge the information that Sharpay had witnessed almost the entire thing. It was a little embarrassing in Gabby's opinion, that she had followed them there. She knew she wouldn't want anyone to know she had done that. Not that she would every do that, but hypothetically.

"Aw man, I bet she's really mad at me, even though she usually is anyway, but argh I'm such an idiot," Troy moaned, slapping a hand against his forehead. "I should've never gone out with Emma."

"Oh, so you and Emma aren't a couple or anything?" Gabriella asked.

"No," Troy confirmed quickly. "No, no, no. We did not hit it off at all. Way too big of a personality difference."

_Well than why were the two of you making out? _Gabriella wanted to ask him, but he couldn't exactly find out that she was there. Instead she said, "Troy, I'm sure that if you took the time to talk to Sharpay and explained everything, she would forgive you."

"Yeah," Troy mumbled. "Yeah! You're right. I just need to talk to her. How about today, now?"

Gabriella giggled a little and patted his back. "Troy, how 'bout you give her a little time to cool off? Talk to her tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay. That makes sense. Thanks, Gabriella," Troy said smiling fondly at her. And the best part was, not an ounce of romantic feeling towards her emerged. All he could think about was getting Sharpay to like him again.

"Your welcome," Gabriella replied sweetly. "But you can use a nickname you know. You don't have to call me by my full name. Most of my friends don't," she said with a wink.

"Ok," Troy said, appearing to be thinking about what to call her. "How about Brie? Anyone call you that?"

"Nope," Gabriella answered, swinging her head side to side for emphasis. "I like it!"

The pair reached Gabriella's suite and Troy smiled as she leaned in for a friendly hug before slipping into her room. "I had fun. We should do this again," she said. "Bye Troy."

"Bye Brie," he said, grinning as he walked to the elevator.

Everything made sense in his head now. Emma was a "friend" he would probably never speak to again. Brie was a real friend now, someone he could count on. And Sharpay. He reallllllly liked her. And he reallllllllly needed to get her to forgive him cause he really wanted to just kiss her. Real badly.

.o.

Oliver sat sandwiched between the Evans twins on the large cream sofa in the living area of their suite, Mary Poppins playing out on the silver LCD screen before them.

"God, no one's even remotely hot in this movie!" Oliver whined, crossing his arms over his chest and huffing.

"Oliver, shut up and watch Dick van Dyke!" Sharpay whisper-scolded.

Ryan, ignoring Oliver's antics, sat enraptured in the film.

A knock came at the door and Oliver leaped off the couch, screeching _I'll get itttttttt!_

Unlatching the locks, Oliver swung the door open with a bang as it hit the wall.

"Gabriella!" Oliver cried, throwing his arms around her in a huge hug. "You're here! Thank God. They'll stop watching the movie now."

Completely surprised by Oliver's actions, she let him take her hand and drag her into the suite.

"Look everyone!" Oliver announced dragging Gabriella with him to stand before the twins. "Its Gabriella! She's back. You know you wanna know what happened!" he cried as he slyly backed up and turned off the television.

"Gabby," Ryan cried, pleased she was back, hopping off the couch and enveloping her in a hug.

Sharpay immediately threw herself between them taking Gabriella's hand and dragging her over to the sofa.

"What. Happened?" she asked, slowly, enunciating each word.

"We had lunch at the café on the third floor and just chatted," Gabriella answered, steering clear from any details. Troy was her friend too. She couldn't just go blabbing his secrets to Sharpay, no matter how much she wanted to assure her that Troy felt the same way she felt about him.

"That's it, nothing important," Sharpay said, disappointedly.

"That's it," Gabriella lied for the second time that day.

"You sure?" Oliver asked desperately, pleading with his eyes for Gabriella to continue speaking. He did not want to watch a singing nanny baby sit two ugly children for the rest of the afternoon.

"Yep," Gabriella said with a smile.

"Sounds like fun," Ryan said with a smile, very relieved to find it had been a rather bland, friendly outing.

"So what did you guys do?" Gabriella asked, causing Oliver to do a little jig. No Mary Poppins, woo hoo!

"We went to the spa," Oliver cried. "And the most horrible thing ever happened to me!" he exclaimed as he collapsed onto the floor in front of the couch that the three others sat on. He launched into a rather long, exaggerated version of their spa adventure and much to his relief everyone forgot about all things supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

.o.

Troy walked back into his suite, entering the empty space, ambling into the living room, and collapsing on the couch. Now what?

Gabriella told him not to call Sharpay till tomorrow, now what would he do? His parents were off at some event or another and he was all alone.

He suddenly felt very sad. Gabriella had probably run off to do something with Sharpay and Ryan and that kid Oliver was probably with them too.

Sighing, he realized he had never felt so left out in his entire life. He was always the popular one, the kid with an agenda. He was never bored, never without someone to call on. This was so new for him.

Troy Bolton spent the rest of the evening in front of the television, channel surfing, finally resting on Mary Poppins because really there was absolutely nothing else on.

.o.

**So I finally updated. Lol Sorry about that. Hope you enjoyed.**

**All you Troypay fans gear up for their talk next chapter! I know you've all been waiting for some Troypay action!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	20. Craxy

**Never Felt This Way**

.o.

**I actually updated before two weeks was up! Woo Hoo!**

.o.

The next morning, Ryan awoke to a long, luxurious knock on his door. It was eight o' clock in the morning. Who could it possibly be?

"Howdy," Oliver said, chipper to the extreme. "Dude, were you like sleeping?"

"Uh yeah," Ryan moaned, flopping back onto his bed. "Where's Sharpay? Go talk to her."

"Asleep. No way was I waking her up. She'd claw my eyes out like the foxy cat she is."

Ryan groaned pulling his pillow over his head. "Note to self: Be more like Sharpay."

"By the way, I can't get fucking Supercali out of my head. And I totally had a nightmare about that creepy bird lady," Oliver shuddered at the thought.

"You know you can spell Supercalifragilistic with the periodic table," Gabriella offered, walking into the room.

"Gabby," Ryan murmured as she sat down on the edge of his bed. "What are you doing here?"

"Oliver said to meet here, he said we were doing something." Looking down at Ryan's white tee shirt and plaid pajama bottoms, Gabriella added, "I guess you didn't get that memo."

Oliver shrugged innocently, "I was bored."

"Oliver," they both sighed.

"Dudes, be chill. OK. The Olly man is taking you out for an afternoon of fun."

Ryan groaned as he stumbled out of bed, Gabriella taking his hand to steady him as they both got up.

The three walked into the kitchen and Ryan slid over to a cabinet, grabbing a box of cereal. He began pouring himself a bowl, before suddenly remembering his manners, and groggily calling out, "Gabby can I get you anything?"

"I'm fine," Gabriella replied cheerily. She was obviously as much of a morning person as Oliver.

Ryan resumed pouring and had sat down at the table with a spoon, when Oliver said, "Hello, what about me? You never asked if _I'd _like something?"

Spoon poised in the air, Ryan glared at Oliver and simply responded, "I know I didn't", and then shoved the cereal in his mouth.

Gabriella smiled apologetically at Oliver and Oliver shrugged it off immediately exclaiming, "Note to self, the Evans' twins are craxy till noon." "Craxy?" Ryan questioned. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Extra crazy," Oliver answered matter-of-factly. "It's my urban word of the day. _Craxy_. E_x_tra crazy. Hence the _x. _I have them sent to my e-mail every day. It's really great! You should try it!"

"O-kay," Ryan said slowly, polishing off his cereal and getting up to place it in the sink. Grabbing a mug out of the cupboard, he poured himself a cup of coffee and went back to sit down at the table with Gabby and Oliver.

"Sorry, guys," Ryan said sincerely, taking a long drag of his coffee. "Just let me get some caffeine in me and I'll be good as new."

"It's ok," Gabriella said sweetly, patting his free hand that lay on the table. "Not all of us our morning people."

Ryan cracked his first smile of the morning and laced his fingers through Gabby's.

"Well aren't you kids the darn cutest things?" Oliver said in a country western accent.

"Oliver," they sighed for the second time that morning.

.o.

Sharpay lay fast asleep under her pink duvet, unaware of the two extra people in her suite. Tossing and turning in her sleep, her cell phone suddenly went off causing her to jerk up right, pushing her sleeping mask up onto her forehead.

Grabbing her sidekick she flipped it open to find Troy Bolton TROY BOLTON! was calling her!

Quickly accepting the call, she held the phone up to her ear, and said in her sexiest voice, "Good morning, Troyyy."

"Uh, who is this?" Troy asked, confused.

"Sharpay!" Sharpay said irritated in her normal voice.

"Oh, hi, sorry your voice just sounded really weird when you first answered."

Sharpay blushed slightly, and quickly said, "Oh sorry, I just, uh, had something in my throat, I guess."

"Oh, ok, well anyways, I was wondering if we could talk. Somewhere private."

"I don't know, Troy," Sharpay began faux doubtfully, wanting him to beg a little. In her head she was bouncing off the walls, screaming with pure joy that Troy wanted to speak with her. Alone.

"Please," he pleaded, and Sharpay pictured him on the floor in front of her, tears in his eyes as he clasped his hands together, pleading with her.

"I guess I could manage something," Sharpay said breezily. "Where and when?"

"Room 1234, say an hour from now," Troy threw out.

Sharpay paused for a second, wanting to tease him a little. "Okay," she said, thirty seconds later. "See you then."

"Thanks Sharpay, you won't regret it."

Sharpay hung up the phone and dashed out of her bed, throwing on a silky pink robe. Racing out of her room, she flew into the kitchen yelling, "RYAN YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT JUST HAPPENED?"

Sharpay, suddenly seeing Oliver and Gabriella at the table with Ryan, clamped her mouth shut and walked over and sat down at the table as if nothing had happened.

"Never mind," she said nonchalantly as the three looked over at her in astonishment.

"Dude, Sharpay's even more craxy than you!" Oliver exclaimed to Ryan.

"Oliver," Ryan said calmly. "That was nothing."

.o.

Troy began pacing around his room in circles. And he felt very girly.

_What should I wear? What should I say? What should I do?_

_Oh shut up you big pussy!_

Whipping into his closet, he threw on a red Wildcats tee and his favorite pair of dark wash jeans. No, it is not weird for a boy to have a favorite pair of jeans.

Pulling on a pair of navy blue and white Nikes and running his fingers through his hair, he brushed his teeth and swished a little mint mouthwash around in his mouth for sixty seconds just for good measure. There was nothing worse than having awful breath. Not that he expected Sharpay to kiss him, but he sure hoped she would.

Troy strolled out of his room and into the main living area of the suite. Walking over to the refrigerator, he found a note taped to the door.

_Dearest Troy,_

_Your father and I are off to a brunch event on the sixth floor. We'll be back around nine in the evening for after that we have a luncheon on the eleventh floor, followed by a jewelry convention on the fourteenth floor, followed by a bird watching adventure on the terrace, followed by dinner on the second floor._

_Have fun on your own. Here's some cash to get you through the day._

_Love,_

_Mummy and Daddy_

Troy laughed at the ridiculously retarded letter and decided to write one of his own.

_Dearest Mummy and Daddy,_

_Thanks for the money. I'll be sure and have a nice time. Don't expect me back till ten. I've got some things to do._

_Love,_

_Troy_

_P.S. Sorry for cursing yesterday._

Troy taped the note next to his parents and scrambled out the door, on his way to Room 1234.

.o.

Sharpay, who hadn't said a word to anyone but "hi and bye" as she abruptly left the table, merely grabbing a cup of coffee before running back into her room, stood before her mirror, trying to decide on an outfit.

Finally settling on a pair of white skinny jeans, a striped tank top, and gold heels she was officially the craxiest person ever. I mean, hello? It's winter.

Fluffing her curls, she left her room in a cloud of perfume, strutting back into the kitchen.

Ryan, Gabs, and Oliver looked up at her, from where they still sat at the table.

As she reached the door, Ryan called, "Hey, where are you going?"

"Out to meet someone," Sharpay said coolly.

"But, but I planned an afternoon of fun!" Oliver cried, helplessly.

Sharpay gave him an oh-you-silly-child look and replied, "I'll call you afterwards and meet up with you later."

"Bye," Ryan called out as she left the suite.

"I don't like her when she's craxy," Oliver huffed, crossing his arms over his checkered shirt covered chest.

"Oliver, please stop using that word," Ryan cried, annoyed.

"Oliver, you never finished telling us what we were going to do today?" Gabriella reminded him gently.

"Oh yeah!" Oliver said instantly brightening up. "Well after we go to the arcade," Oliver paused holding his hand up to give Ryan a high five. Ryan rolling his eyes slapped Oliver's hand weakly. "We'll go to the book store for Gabriellen." Oliver smiled at Gabby and she smiled back, secretly cringing at his strange nickname for her. "And then we _were_ going to go to some frilly boutique I saw, but since _she's _not coming," he paused to glare evilly at the door. "We'll just go get some pizza. Sound good?"

"Sure," Ryan and Gabriella said simultaneously, a hint of sarcasm in their voices.

"Well then let's get going," he said, leaping up from the table. Grabbing Gabby's hand in his left hand and Ryan's hand in his right hand, he lifted them both out of their chairs. Wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders, he walked the three of them through the door, singing Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious quite cheerily for someone who hated the song.

Ryan leaned his head back as did Gabriella so they could talk without Oliver hearing and whispered, "We seriously need to find him a girlfriend before we all go _craxy."_

"Seriously," Gabriella replied.

.o.

Sharpay filed out of the elevator, stomping in her golden heels towards Room 1234. She was feeling a little nervous. What was gonna happen? Was he gonna apologize for everything? Or tell her he didn't like her? Arhghhh, the anticipation was agitating.

Locating the room, Sharpay softly knocked at the door.

"Come in," came Troy's rough, boyish voice that made her swoon.

Sharpay turned the knob and slowly walked inside. The room was covered in old yellow wallpaper and white wrought iron furniture was scattered throughout the room. Troy sat in a floral armchair; looking so hot he made her weak.

"Hi," she breathed.

"Hi," he breathed back. "Sit."

Sharpay nodded and sat in the chair across from him. "What is this place?" she asked.

"An old room they never renovated. This was how the rooms looked like eighty years ago. Wild, huh?"

"Yeah," Sharpay whispered, looking around the room in marvel. It was so quaint and rustic. She had a sudden fantasy of her and Troy sneaking up here to eat fancy lunches and them kissing on the porch swing that hung from the little balcony off of the room.

Troy's light blue eyes blazed into hers as he said, "Sharpay, I'm really sorry."

"For what?"

"For not admitting to myself how I really felt, for not letting you know how I felt about you, for making up all these excuses for why I couldn't like you."

"You like me?" she mumbled, staring down at the hard wood floors.

"I do, I really really do," he said, sadly. "Emma, she didn't mean anything and I know that you know that I went on a date with her yesterday but it was really no fun." He paused for a second sighing heavily. "But I'm gonna be perfectly honest with you. We kissed. We kissed and it felt good. Really good."

Sharpay looked over at him horrified and leaped out of her chair. "God, Troy! Seriously! That's what you say to me! You have got to be kidding me." She stalked off towards the door.

Troy flew out of his chair. "Wait, Sharpay let me finish!" He followed her to the door, her back facing him with her hand resting on the doorknob.

"What Troy?" she asked, bitterly, not daring to face him. "What do you have to say to me?"

Not saying a word, Troy placed his hands on her hips, spinning her around to face him.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked shakily, a single tear falling down her cheek.

Troy's cerulean blue eyes stared into hers for a moment, before he slowly leaned in, placing a soft kiss on her lips.

Pulling back after a mere second's kiss, a simple brushing of lips, he whispered hoarsely, "That kiss. That kiss just then meant so much more to me than a five minute hormone crazed makeout session with some girl I hardly knew."

Sharpay stared at him, not able to say anything, her lips tingling.

"When I kiss you, you know how I feel. I feel loved, I feel happy, I feel like we're the only people in this world. When I kissed Emma, I felt dirty, I felt like scum, I felt like shit. Because I knew that what I was doing, didn't mean anything to me, but it would mean something to you. It would make you feel unloved, it would make you feel unhappy, it would make you feel like you were the only person in this world. And I can't even begin to describe how horrible I feel about that."

He bowed his head down to look at the ground, his hands still on Sharpay's hips, standing so close to her, her back was pressed against the door.

"I forgive you," she whispered, faintly.

.o.

**Coming up in Chapter 21:**

**More craxiness with Oliver, Ryan, and Gabriella.**

**And more Troy and Sharpay. Hope all you Troypayers loved that scene.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	21. Spiderman vs Superman

**Never Felt This Way**

.o.

**This chapter you get to meet my latest character creation! Aren't you excited?**

.o.

"Welcome to Arcadinator," Oliver announced in a low broadcaster's voice, a childish grin on his pale face.

Rolling their eyes at his obvious affection for the establishment, Ryan and Gabriella displayed amused expressions as they stood in front of the arcade, Oliver between them.

The arcade was quite an unusual place. The carpet was purple with glow in the dark moons and stars and the space was pitch black aside from the bright neon lights coming from decorations that adorned the walls and the various arcade games that engulfed the room.

The arcade was also a quite chaotic place. It seemed like no one was in charge for everyone there was out of control. Kids were screaming and crying. A mini candy fight was taking place by the pinball machine. Someone had thrown Big Red soda all over one of the bowling aisles. And one kid was taking a nice retch by the basketball hoop. Grrrrrreat.

Gabriella turned to face Ryan, her mouth wide open in horror. Ryan possessed a similar expression.

"Oliver," Ryan began tentatively, not quite believing the boy could be smiling at such a sight. "Everyone in here is like six years old."

"Nah," Oliver said pointing to a boy with tortoiseshell glasses and messy red hair. "That kid looks like thirteen tops."

Ryan sighed, realizing his efforts to get them out of this predicament were probably pointless. "OK, Oliver, what do we do first?"

"We have to get our tokens," Oliver said, walking over to a broken down wooden counter. It was obvious the arcade hadn't been renovated since, well, never.

Ryan and Gabriella followed wistfully behind him, Ryan wrapping an arm around Gabriella and allowing her to lean her head against his shoulder. They were in for an exhausting afternoon.

Oliver looked around the arcade as he stood at the counter. There had to be some employee in here. How else could all the kids have gotten tokens? The arcade was too old-fashioned to have those little converter machines. Someone had to be here.

Oliver rapped his knuckles on the counter, knocking vigorously at the wood. "Hellooooo?" he called, cupping his hands around his mouth to project his words.

Sighing, he leaned over the counter to see if anyone was hiding back there. Apparently someone was as his nose almost hit the head of a girl slouched down under the counter. She appeared to be listening to music and reading something glossy. What the hell? Freaking out, Oliver jumped away from the counter.

He glanced back at Ryan and Gabriella who looked puzzled. His eyes wild, he stood there like an idiot. Then remembering he kind of needed her, he leaned back over the counter and cautiously tapped the girl's shoulder. The girl flinched and then immediately popped up, yanking white iPod headphones out of her ears.

Oliver could barely see her and then a bright blue light illuminated her face. Sleek, dark hair fell over her shoulders and blunt bangs tumbled into her emerald green eyes. She wore a black and purple hooded sweatshirt and skinny jeans and had perfect porcelain skin. She was beautiful in that quirky, Little House on the Prairie meets Juno way.

She reached into the pocket of her sweatshirt and pressed the pause button on her iPod, and then placed a red-white-and-blue Spiderman comic book on the rough countertop.

"Sorry," she said in an enticingly raspy voice. "I kinda ducked for cover when one of the kids tried to pour lemonade down my shirt." Shoulder slumping, she rolled her eyes and reached under the counter, pulling a long black cord from one of the shelves. She threw the cord around her neck, revealing a glow in the dark nametag. "Hi I'm Arden," she quipped in a sarcastically cheery voice, pointing to her nametag for emphasis. "And I, unfortunately, am required to wear this ridiculous nametag because apparently I can't just tell people what my name is."

Oliver chuckled a little, clearly attracted to her. He rested his elbows on the counter, leaning over a little to get closer to her. "Hi, I'm Oliver," he said with his most charming smile. "And I, fortunately, do not read Spiderman comic books, because, being a true comic book aficionado, I know that Superman kicks Spiderman's ass all the way back to the Bronx."

Arden's glowing mint-colored eyes widened in pure horror and her full, frosty pale lips pursed in disgust, giving Oliver just the reaction he was hoping for. "You can't be serious? Spiderman can climb up walls and swing from building to building. He doesn't have to wear his underwear over a ridiculously patriotic jumpsuit with a cape to be considered a 'superhero'."

Oliver grinned and leaned a little closer, pressing his arms even more against the counter, hoping to show off what little muscle he had. "Who needs dinky little webs when you can fly? And, hell, at least Superman isn't afraid to show his face."

"AFRAID TO SHOW HIS FACE? Oh my GOD. It's part of his secret identity! If Superman had any amount of brain cells in that gargantuan head of his, he wouldn't just take off his geeky glasses and call that a disguise…"

"Uh, Oliver," Ryan butted in. "Me and Gabby are gonna go play some Wheel of Fortune, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah go ahead," Oliver said waving his hands dismissively. "Geeky? He looks fucking intelligente with those bad babies on.."

Ryan and Gabriella laughed as they raced away from the debating pair, eager to get away from their comical argument.

"I think we've found Prospective Girlfriend Who Will Occupy More of Oliver's Time," Ryan sang, giddily, clapping his hands together in a girlish manner.

"She's awfully pretty," Gabriella mused thoughtfully. "And they have the whole comic thing in common. Who knows, maybe if they get past their differences…"

"Oh Gabs," Ryan interrupted her. "Oliver's totally trying to provoke her. He's trying to get her all hot and bothered and it's working. Working quite well." Ryan grinned as he dreamed of he and Gabby walking out of the arcade leaving Oliver behind to debate up Arden. Now that would be awesome.

"Oh," Gabriella said. "So its like some stupid guy strategy." Gabriella frowned a little as she stared off into space at the dizzying DDR booths. After a moment, her face brightened a little and she leaned over, pecking Ryan on the apple of his cheek.

"What was that for?" he asked, his eyes smiling.

"For being the type of guy that doesn't use strategies."

.o.

Troy removed his hands from Sharpay's hips and stepped backwards, running a tanned hand through his shaggy caramel colored hair. He began pacing around the room, his sneakers squeaking against the hardwood floors as he processed what had just happened.

Sharpay remained motionless, her hand still grasping the golden doorknob so tightly, her knuckles were white against her bronze hand. Realizing what she was doing, she relaxed her hand, letting it drop to her side. She watched as her knuckles returned to her normal coloring, not daring to look into Troy's eyes and see what he was thinking.

A few moments passed by, Troy pacing, Sharpay twisting the glitter bangles on her arm with determination.

"Good," Troy finally mumbled, falling back into the floral armchair. "Good."

"Good, what?" Sharpay implored, staring down at the wood, memorizing the scratches that scuffed the otherwise glorious flooring.

"It's good that you forgive me," Troy said simply, tapping his fingers on the yellow-flower covered armrest.

"Oh."

"You know what, Sharpay?" Troy asked shyly, letting his eyes gaze into hers. "I don't really know all that much about you. I mean, we've known each other since we were five, but I've never really taken the time to get to know you."

"Yeah," Sharpay murmured, clicking the heels of her golden Jimmy Choos together.

"Well, I want to know you better, so come over here and let me," Troy commanded, half jokingly, half irritated that she was still standing there at the door like she was gonna leave.

Sharpay smiled and took the seat across from him once more, folding her hands neatly in her lap and crossing her legs at the ankles. "Fine, so long as you answer my questions as well." She smirked confidently, having regained her power.

Troy chuckled. Who was going to be wearing the pants in this relationship? "Deal. Middle name?" he questioned, getting straight to the point.

"Rosario. Yours is Liam. Ultimate favorite sport? Cause I know its not basketball."

Troy slumped back in his chair. Whoa she knew way more about him than he thought. Almost no one knew his middle name and how the hell did she know his heart wasn't in basketball?

"Uh, truthfully?"

Sharpay nodded seriously, her blonde curls bobbing up and down.

"Golf. But Dad doesn't consider it a sport, so…" Troy trailed off, shrugging his shoulders in defeat.

"I thought so," Sharpay replied. "I always saw you staring longingly at the golf tryout sheets."

"Stalking me, huh?" Troy asked teasingly, a grin slowly spreading across his face.

"NO," Sharpay cried crossing her thin arms over her pink and purple striped tank. "They just happened to be right next to the drama tryout list."

"Uh huh, sure. My turn! How come at school you act like Ryan is your slave but here when you guys are outside of school, you're like best friends?"

Sharpay winced. He sure was getting her back for the basketball question. "Simply because it's easy. Easy to manipulate him at school, make him do things for me. And its wrong and I know it, but I guess its one of the only ways I can show that I hold power."

Troy nodded. "I wish you wouldn't."

"I wish I wouldn't either. And I'm gonna try really hard not to. 'Sides I have a feeling that Gabriella's gonna give him the confidence boost he needs to stand up to me at school." Sharpay giggled a little at the thought.

Not wanting to make Sharpay feel uncomfortable, he chimed in, "Your turn!"

Sharpay threw him a grateful smile and thought carefully before asking, "Have you ever dated before?"

"Not really officially. I've been on a couple dates with various girls, but it's never gone anywhere. You?"

Sharpay felt a little jealous and blushed as she answered, "Never."

"Really?" Troy questioned, appearing pleasantly surprised. Her answer seemed to make his face light up as if he'd just heard the jolly tune of an ice cream truck.

"Yeah. Boys don't really tend to like me. I guess I can be a little overbearing."

"First of all, at least one boy does," Troy said pausing to wink at Sharpay and point to himself. "And second of all, I sort of love the fact that you're a little much to handle. I think I'm up to the challenge."

Sharpay's heart fluttered and it seemed to grow a little larger like the Grinch's did except hers was never as tiny and shriveled up as his. "Your turn," she whispered, too embarrassed to respond to his dreamy movie-like monologue.

"You want to kick off your first relationship with me?" Troy asked, leaning over to place one hand on Sharpay's white-jeans-covered knee.

"Are you asking me out?" she asked, placing her own manicured hand over his large, rough one.

"Yep," Troy said, kissing her hand.

"Sure," Sharpay answered nonchalantly as if it wasn't that big deal.

"All right so it's settled then."

"Yep."

"Well good," Troy said in an equally breezy voice.

"Just kiss me!" Sharpay cried impatiently.

"Will do," Troy replied before doing exactly what she asked him to do.

.o.

Ryan and Gabriella made their way over to the Wheel of Fortune game, carefully slinking past a group of kids who were throwing skittles across the room.

Once reaching the game, Ryan suddenly realized they wouldn't be able to play it. Dropping his shoulders in defeat, he said glumly, "We don't have any tokens."

Gabby sighed and glanced over at the counter where Oliver and Arden were still heavily quarreling. "Well, I don't think we want to interrupt that."

"Probably not," Ryan agreed. Glancing around the arcade at all the naughty little children, a light bulb went off in his head. "It would be tricky, but what if we somehow got the kids to give us some tokens?"

"We could try that," Gabriella replied hesitantly, clearly frightened of the little monsters. "Um, and how do you propose we do this?"

"We could try and bribe them with something."

"They already have everything they need," Gabriella sighed, gesturing out to the kids with handfuls of tokens, candy, and sodas.

Ryan groaned. "Ah, screw it! Let's just go find a place to hang out at away from the psycho kids until Oliver's ready to leave."

"Ok," Gabriella said, following Ryan over to the corner of the arcade.

.o.

Sharpay pulled away from Troy's kiss, feeling her cell phone vibrating in her pocket.

"Sorry," she mumbled, scootching away from him and retrieving her phone, which displayed Ryan across the front.

"Hello," she answered, rolling her eyes. He just had to ruin the moment didn't he?

"Hey!" Ryan's desperate voice cried into her ear. "Where are you? You have to come meet us at the bookstore or something so we have an excuse to get out of here. The arcade is pretty much hell!"

"You said a BAD WOORRRRRD!" a little boy screamed at Ryan, pointing a finger at him.

Ryan held in his response that would undoubtedly have even more "bad" words and went on, "See what me and Gabs are dealing with. Pleassssse."

"OK, fine," Sharpay gave in. "I'm bringing someone with me."

"Great. Awesome. Bring whomever. JUST COME!"

"All right, all right. Don't get your panties in a bunch, we'll be there ASAP."

"Sweet. Thanks, you're the greatest."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm the best. See ya.

"Bye."

Troy displayed a perplexed expression as Sharpay ended the call and stuffed the phone back in her jeans pocket.

"I gotta meet Ryan at Nook's, the Lodge bookstore. Wanna come with? Gabs and Oliver will be there too."

"Sure!" Troy's eyes sparkled and his smile stretched across his face.

"You seem so excited," Sharpay giggled, tucking a strand of her hair behind her gold hoop adorned ear.

"Yeah, I guess I've just been sorta lonely the past couple of days."

"Awww," Sharpay cooed, taking Troy's hands and raising them both out of their chairs. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she gave him a quick kiss and whispered, "Well get prepared to never be lonely again. Even if I'm not with you, once you get to know Oliver, he'll never leave you alone."

Troy chuckled and then frowned a little. "Do you think Oliver will like me? I mean, I know he liked you and all and I sort of stole you from him."

Sharpay shook her head and firmly stated, "Oliver never had me. And hopefully he's over the fact that I never wanted him by now. I think he's accepted that we are friends and nothing more."

Troy nodded, but still felt uncertain. "Yeah, but that doesn't really mean he'll like me?"

"Troy, once he gets to know you, I'm sure he'll love you. In a non-gay way. Its impossible not to." Troy grinned and took Sharpay's hand. "Well, then let's go."

"Let's," Sharpay said smiling back. "But we have to come back here, ok?"

"OK," Troy said. "It can be our place."

"Our place," Sharpay whisper-repeated. "I like the sound of that."

.o.

"Yes!" Ryan said pumping his fist in the air. "Sharpay agreed to meet us!"

"Yay!" Gabriella cheered. "Let's go tell Oliver."

The pair speed-walked over to the counter, slinking past all the messy little hooligans.

"Oliverrrrr," Ryan sang out, tapping him on the shoulder.

Oliver's radiant grin quickly faded into a miffed grimace and he whispered to Ryan, "Dude, I'm kind of in the middle of something here."

"Sorry, _dude. _But Sharpay's meeting us at Nook's any minute. She just called."

"Oh," Oliver replied. "OK, hold on a second."

"I gotta jet," Oliver announced coolly to Arden.

"Great. Leave. Exit's thatta way!" Arden deadpanned, throwing her thin arms towards the door.

Oliver ignored her biting comment and said, "Wanna come with us to Nook's?"

Arden rolled her eyes and gestured out towards the fifty or so kids milling about the arcade. "I can't exactly leave these kids unsupervised, you imbecile."

"You have to have a lunch break sometime though, right?"

"Well, yeah," Arden answered, eyes narrowed and chin jutted out in defense.

"So meet us at Geraldine's. The pizza place."

"I know what Geraldine's is!" Arden snapped, white teeth glowing in the dark.

"All right, all right. Be cool. Maybe I'll see you, maybe I won't!" Oliver said as he backed away from the counter, towards Ryan and Gabby who waited for him next to the plum colored double doors.

"Maybe you won't!" Arden yelled towards him as the three exited the arcade.

Oliver grinned as the trio ambled down the hallway towards Nook's.

"She totally digs me, man!" Oliver said, smiling to himself. "I wouldn't be surprised if she got someone to cover her shift so she could meet us at Nook's."

Ryan rolled his eyes and replied, "Oliver, face it, she hates you. She wanted you to leave."

"You fell for that!" Oliver cried incredulously, chuckling. "That was a complete act so she wouldn't just melt in my unbelievably good looking presence."

"Whatever you say, Oliver, whatever you say."

.o.

**So what did you think?**

**Do you like Arden or do you think another girl should steal Oliver's heart?**

**Still liking the Troypay and Ryella?**

**I sure hope so!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	22. Troy vs Delaney

**Never Felt This Way**

**.o.**

**Heyya! Sorry this took forever. But its here now! **

**And oh man I couldn't resist. I created another new teen character. Lol**

**Oh and check out this profile I made for Oliver on my FF page! **

**.o.**

Sharpay and Troy reached the set of cherry wood double doors that was the entrance to, Nook's, the Lodge's only bookstore. The store had been established in 1932 and not much had changed except an employee here and there and, of course, the books. The store featured rows upon rows of shelves that reached the ceiling, sliding ladders on almost every bookcase. A small bar in the corner served chocolate malts, bottles of soda, and Ms. Delaney's specialty, chocolate chip cookies with a pinch of nutmeg.

"You think they're already here?" Troy asked quickly and quietly as they entered Nook's.

"Nope," Sharpay replied, shaking her hair causing her blonde locks to swish behind her. "Oliver would be right here right now and would have already said at least one hundred words."  
"Oh, ok," Troy said following Sharpay towards the magazine racks. "Why are we coming over here?"  
"There's a new issue of In Style that I really need to flip through. It's already arrived at my house, but I'm obviously not there," she sighed, throwing her hair behind her shoulders. "I feel so behind."

Troy chuckled as she grabbed the magazine and plopped down on the bench, flipping through the pages slowly, examining every inch of the page with great concentration. Sighing, he picked up a copy of Sports Illustrated and settled himself beside her.

.o.

"How much further?" Gabriella asked, as the three of them flew down the hallway.

"Not far," Ryan and Oliver answered at the same time.

"Couple more minutes and we'll be there," Ryan added. "You look tired."

"I am," Gabriella answered. "It's a bit exhausting racing around the hotel."

Oliver, looking concerned, turned to Gabriella. "We could stop for a minute. Or I could give you a piggy back ride!"

Gabriella giggled, while Ryan didn't look too thrilled. "That's ok, Oliver. I'm fine. Thank you for offering though."

"Sure, sure," Oliver replied.

"We're here," Ryan announced, holding open the door and ushering them all inside.

"SHARPAY!" Oliver shrieked causing everyone in the store to stare disapprovingly at him.

He raced towards her, knocking her magazine out of her hands and enveloping her in a huge hug. "Oh Sharpay, we missed you so much at the arcade."

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "I missed you too Oliver."

Oliver turned to see Troy still perched on the bench, blue eyes wide. He looked a bit shocked at Oliver's grand entrance.

Oliver stuck his hand out, wide grin wiped off his face. "Nice to see you, Troy. Always a pleasure," he said very formally.

Troy stared at his hand for a moment before shaking it awkwardly. He had never met a seventeen-year-old boy who greeted someone with a handshake. This Oliver was one weird duck. A weird duck that he seriously needed approval from.

"H-hey Oliver. Nice to see you too," Troy said, giving Oliver the smile he gave to the girls that hit on him that he wasn't interested in.

"Nice smile you have there, _champ,_" Oliver said, giving Troy the smile he gave the polar bears at the zoo.

"Um, thank you?"

"You're quite welcome."

"Ok."

"Sooooo-" Ryan said not wanting things to get ugly between the boys. "Hi Troy, Hello darling sister."

"Hey Ryan," Troy said, giving him a genuinely kind smile. Ryan seemed all right. And he was way more important than Oliver. Hello? Brother and twin.

"Greetings, dearest brother," Sharpay said with an amused smirk.

Gabriella smiled and said hello to Sharpay and Troy and they kindly greeted her as well.

"OK, so now that we've all seen each other," Ryan began. "Me and Gabs are gonna hit the stacks."

"You hit those stacks HARD!" Oliver exclaimed. "After all, we came here for you, Gabriellen."

"Gabriellen?" Troy questioned.

Everyone but Oliver rolled his or her eyes. "He'll give you some messed up nickname soon enough," Ryan whispered to Troy. "Be prepared."

Troy nodded sincerely, as if Ryan was giving him tips on how to deal with Oliver.

"Catch up with you later," Ryan said as he steered Gabriella towards the bookcases.

.o.

"Troy, how about you and I go have a little chat?"

"Ok," Troy said, apparently nervous. Geez, meeting Oliver was like meeting the parents.

"Go ahead," Sharpay said, flicking her hand from her perch on the bench, flipping through the glossy pages with her manicured hands.

"Are you sure?" Troy gulped.

"Positive."

"Well, ok then."

"Great," Oliver said with a grand smile as he ushered Troy over to the bar.

.o.

"So what are we looking for?" Ryan asked, as he stood next to Gabriella whose eyes were flickering among the shelves, a fierce determination in her eyes.

"Oh nothing really in particular," Gabriella said casually. "I'm almost done with Emma so it'd be nice to find another novel just for pleasure."

"Well, I can recommend lots and lots of Shakespeare, and really anything that's been a novel converted into a play," Ryan said with a chuckle. "I'm afraid that's about as far as my literary knowledge goes."

Gabriella giggled. "Aw that's ok. I think I'll just peruse a little. You don't mind?"

"Not at all," Ryan said with a grin.

"Ok, well I think I'll just head over there for a bit. You go ahead and head over to the music section. I know you're dying."

Ryan laughed. "All right. If you insist."

"I do," Gabriella said, kissing his cheek. "You go do your thing and I'll go do mine."

.o.

Oliver slid onto one of the bar stools and rapped his knuckles on the counter importantly, winking at Troy with an air of confidence as Troy slipped onto the stool next to him.

"Oliver, my dear," a plump elderly woman with graying hair cried out to him, taking his face in her hands and kissing both his cheeks. "How lovely it is to see you! I've been wondering when you would deem to stop by."

"Ms. Delaney. It has been while. You know I've been craving those impeccably delicious cookies of yours."

"They'll be here in a moment," she said prudently but with obvious pleasure at his compliment. "A chocolate malt too, just the way you like it."

"You are too good to me, Ms. Delaney," he said rather complimentary causing the woman to blush slightly.

"Would you like anything?" she asked not nearly as warmly to Troy.

"Um, I suppose some pop. What kind do you have?"

"Anything you would like."

"A coke?"

"Coming right up. No cookies for ya then?"

"Um, I guess I'll have one."

"Only one?"

"OK, two I guess."  
Ms. Delaney nodded and sped away barking orders at the kitchen behind the bar.

"So, Troy, Troy, Troy," Oliver began spinning his stool from side to side in an easy manner. "You and I don't really know each other all that well now. Do we?"

"I guess not," Troy responded carefully.

"Well, I mean except for that one time you butted in on me and Sharpay dancing and made me dance with that awfully adult girl, what was her name?"

"Emma," Troy said, gulping.

"Emma! That's right. It was Emma. And did you not go on a date with this Emma girl?"

"I did."

"And how was it?"

"Not very good."

"I can imagine. The girl was rather too cautious and stuck up. What made you go out with this girl?"

"I don't really know."

"Oh don't lie to me, Troy. You know why. Tell Oliver."

"Well, uh, I guess I sort of wanted to try and forget about all other girls."

"And why is this?"

"Look, Oliver do we really have to play patient and psychologist."

"Fine, fine," Oliver said holding his hands up in surrender. "Just one more thing. You really like her?"

"I do," Troy said sincerely. "And you can kick my ass if I do anything to screw this up."

Oliver grinned mischeviously. "All right man. I'm gonna hold you to that. But we're cool."

Troy smiled. "Awesome. But can I ask you something."

"Fire away," Oliver said leaning back in his seat comfortably with a give-me-your-best-shot expression on his fair face.

"Do you still have feelings for Sharpay?"

Oliver, a little startled by the question, sat up straight in his seat. "Naw man," he said lying just a little. "I just met _the hottest_ girl…"

.o.

Ryan wore a blissed out expression as he flipped happily through the box of old records in the corner of the music section. Who would've thought that they would have records here? They had never had them before all these years he had been coming to the Lodge. Maybe some cool new employee had brought them in.

"Sweet, huh?" a voice called out from behind him.

Ryan whipped around to find a boy who looked about his age. He had copper colored hair that tousled around his face in an artsy way and large green eyes with thick eyelashes. He wore a brown leather jacket over a Modest Mouse tee shirt, brown corduroy straight leg pants, and navy Keds.

"Yeah," Ryan said earnestly as he sat crossed legged in front of the box. "Majorly sweet.

The boy grinned revealing straight, glistening white teeth. "I begged Mr. Foretti to let me have some shipped into the store. Kind of gives Nook's a cool edge you know?"

"Definitely," Ryan said, as he examined a dusty record with psychedelic cover artwork."

"I'm Jet," the boy said, pushing some of his thick hair out of his eyes.

"Ryan," Ryan replied with a grin.

.o.

Gabriella smiled happily as she breathed in the smell of all the books and magazines. This was her kind of bookstore. Rustic, cozy, different, eccentric. She was pleased that Oliver had thought to bring her here.

She already had a pile of books in her thin arms as she walked towards the music section. She stopped in her tracks, however, at the site of Ryan and a boy who looked like he had stepped right out of a campaign ad for some chic designer brand. They seemed to be bonding over music and Gabriella didn't want to interrupt.

She tiptoed back over to an olive green sofa and sunk into the couch as she began to read one of the books she had picked up.

.o.

Sharpay sighed as she slipped into a stool next to Troy. "Ugh! I can't believe they don't have Glamour."

Troy smirked as he sipped from the straw that poked out from his Coke bottle.

Ms. Delaney came running up to the counter, greeting Sharpay with a friendly "Good afternoon, Ms. Sharpay Evans. What can I do for you?" She knew better than to kiss her cheeks.

"A water with lemon," she replied politely.

Oliver and Troy both whipped their heads towards her and frowned.

Ms. Delaney's forehead creased in disappointment. "I'll make that a triple chocolate malt."

"I won't drink it," Sharpay replied brattily like she always did when Ms. Delaney didn't bring her what she wanted.

"Oh you will child," Ms. Delaney replied and laughed heartily.

Sharpay pretended to be angry and pouted her lips but as soon as Ms. Delaney left, her face broke out in a wide grin. It was their usual banter ever since Sharpay had been five years old. And Sharpay rather enjoyed it. Not to mention it was one of the few times Sharpay indulged in something quite as fattening as that heavenly malt.

"So did you boys work things out?" Sharpay asked, crossing her legs and resting her elbows on the counter.

"Yep," Oliver replied brightly. "Me and Coy Troy are besties."

Troy cringed at his nickname.

"Coy Troy," Sharpay said slowly. "I like it."

Troy gave her a menacing look.

"What?" Sharpay asked innocently. "It's catchy."

"OK, new subject," Troy said quickly. "Why is it that Ms. Delaney is out to get me?"

Oliver and Sharpay laughed long and loud.

"Oh Troy," Oliver said. "Ms. Delaney's like that with everyone when she first meets someone."

"It's true," Sharpay chimed in. "When I first met her, she called me a spoiled little princess and told me that if I didn't cut my attitude she'd call the hotel guards."

"When I first met her," Oliver began fondly. "She told me all I would ever be was a silly little buffoon who thought he was funny. Oh how I'll always cherish that day."

Sharpay giggled. "Soon she'll be ruffling your hair.

"And tweaking your nose," Oliver added.

"And chatting with you about basketball."

"And telling you that you look like you could use some fresh air."

"And showing you pictures of her grandchildren."

"All seventeen!"

"All right, I get it," Troy said with a chuckle.

"One triple chocolate malt," Ms. Delaney announced, sliding the frothy glass to Sharpay.

"You look done," Ms. Delaney said, grabbing his half full coke and the cookie he hadn't even touched and shuffling back into the kitchen.

Troy groaned and Sharpay and Oliver laughed and laughed and laughed.

"This is so not funny!" Troy cried out dramatically. "When is she gonna like me?"

"Give it some time, Coy Troy," Oliver said. "Give it some time."

.o.

**Thanks for reading! **


	23. Telenovela

**Never Felt This Way**

**.o.**

**I am so sorry for my long hiatus. School took over my life these past couple of months and now that it is finally out of session I can go back to doing what I love: writing these stories. Thanks to everyone for waiting and being so patient. **

**.o.**

"Have you ever seen them in concert?" Ryan asked, gesturing towards Jet's Modest Mouse tee. The two of them had been browsing the record boxes and chatting for hours. It was refreshing to meet a guy who listened to modern rock-pop bands like Arctic Monkeys and Coldplay, but who also had an appreciation for the Beatles and Bob Dylan, and even knew every song from all the major musicals on Broadway at this very moment. He was like the best guy friend Ryan had never had. If anyone should be his twin, it was Jet. They hadn't come across one band or singer they disagreed on yet.

"Once, in 2006," Jet replied, a dreamy look in his eyes. They were just so effortlessly cool, ya know. And they weren't all high up on themselves at all so the whole thing was spectacular."

"Sounds great. It's hard to drag my sister to a concert. Unless its like the freaking Pussy Cat Dolls or something. Which I would never go see in the fist place," Ryan chuckled. "She will go to the theater with me though which is probably why I end up going to more shows than concerts."

"I know how you feel man. My sister is into that whole punk-emo scene. You know, she like practically worships Pete Wentz and all his little minions. She's in love with every band from the Fueled by Ramen label. Now they're all right ya know, but I'd rather catch a Dandy Warhols concert."

Ryan laughed and rolled his eyes. "Sister's huh?"

.o.

Troy, Oliver, and Sharpay waved goodbye to Ms. Delaney, hopped off of their stools and began walking around the bookstore, searching for Ryan and Gabriella.

"Where do you think they are?" Troy asked as they passed the history section.

"Probably making out amongst the stacks," Oliver replied with a sleazy grin.

"Oh, whatever," Sharpay said rolling her eyes. "If you were to find anyone making out in public, it would so be me and Troy."

Troy blushed a little and scratched the back of his neck. Believe it or not, he was really shy about stuff like PDA.

Oliver shuddered and pretended like he was going to be sick. "Oh god, Sharpay. Do you have to say stuff like that?"

"Yep," Sharpay answered defiantly. "You can't just say stuff like that, Oliver. Especially about Ryan."

"Fine, fine," Oliver said. "Just don't put those sick images in my head EVER AGAIN."

"Fine," Sharpay said with a grin. Oh, she always got what she wanted. Always.

.o.

After a good half hour, Gabriella decided everyone else was probably anxious to go grab some pizza. She picked up the three books she had decided to purchase and walked over to the music section to rouse Ryan from his record browsing.

"Hey Ry," Gabriella said sweetly, settling down on the floor beside him and placing her books in a neat pile on the carpeted floor.

"Gabby!" Ryan cried happily, kissing her on the cheek. "Gabs, this is Jet. Jet, this is my girlfriend, Gabriella."

Jet stuck out his hand and shook Gabby's small hand. "Nice to meet you," he said politely before turning towards Ryan. "Damn, Ryan. How the hell did you get a girl like her to go out with you?" The sarcasm was evident in his voice and the three laughed together.

Gabriella's cheeks turned a little pink as she laughed. She had never really thought of herself as pretty and it was weird to think that Jet and Troy and Ryan thought she was good looking. She had never gotten this much attention in Albuquerque. It was surreal. In fact, she wasn't sure if she liked the attention or not.

"I'm flattered, but really you've got it all wrong. Ryan's too handsome for me."

It was Ryan's turn to blush and Jet chuckled. "Aw man, you guys are like sickeningly adorable."

"That's for sure!" Oliver chimed in as he, Troy, and Sharpay entered the music section and spotted Ryan, Jet, and Gabby on the floor. "Wait! Who the hell is he?" Oliver appeared a little jealous of Jet. He didn't want any other wisecracking dude to take his place. He was the resident jokester. Not this messy-haired music prick.

Ryan laughed. "Oliver, this is Jet. Jet, this is Oliver. Brace yourself."

"Jet, huh?" Oliver said walking over to him and looking him up and down like he was sizing him up. So he was a little more muscular. He had some pretty sweet shoes. And he had a Foo Fighters record in his hand?! He couldn't hate this guy. He found himself squealing, "Dude, the Foo Fighters f-ing

ROCK!"

Jet laughed. "I think I'm gonna like Oliver," he said to Ryan.

Ryan chuckled and continued with introductions. "This is my twin, Sharpay, and her boyfriend Troy."

"Hi," Jet said, raising a hand in greeting. "What's up?"

"Hey" Troy and Sharpay said in unison. Troy chuckled a little before saying, "Well we better get to Geraldine's. Jet, you're more than welcome to come with. If you can…"

"Aw yeah. I'd love to!" Jet cried enthusiastically. "Uh, just let me go talk to my boss and see if I can go on break. Be back in like five seconds!" He then sprinted to the back of the store.

"So Jet seems pretty cool," Troy said to Ryan.

"Yeah, I guess," Oliver said, not caring that Troy wasn't technically speaking to him. "I mean, he has good taste in music at least. But I mean, come on, let's get real. I will always be the coolest. PERIOD!"

"Sure, sure," Troy said unconvincingly and then chuckled to let Oliver know he was kidding. He was actually pretty psyched about Jet. Maybe he could hook Oliver up with some girl. I mean Arden was so NOT showing up at the pizza place. Oliver had just come on way too strong.

.o.

Jet came flying back into everyone's sight a few minutes later, sporting a wide grin and two thumbs up. "I'm good. Let's go!"

"ALL RIGHT!" Oliver screamed, forgetting he was in a bookstore. "LET'S PIZZA PARTAY!"

Everyone rolled their eyes and followed Jet and a rather excited Oliver out the door.

.o.

"IS SHE HERE? IS SHE HERE??" Oliver began shout-whispering as they entered Geraldine's.

"Oliver, calm down," Sharpay said exasperated. "How about you just look?"

"Okay," Oliver said, raising his hand above his eyes and moving around the place like he was an explorer. He soon spotted Arden in a booth in the back.

"DUDE SHE"S HERE!" he screamed to Ryan.

"Wow, she actually showed up," Troy remarked, truly shocked.

"Aw," Gabriella sighed, relieved she had come. Oliver would have been positively devastated if she hadn't.

"Thank God," Ryan and Sharpay said at the same time.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Jet screamed.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Arden screamed back.

"Oh God, is she like your ex or something?" Ryan asked, wincing.

"My ex! Dude no way! She's my sister!"

.o.

"Oh," Ryan said quietly. "So I take it you two don't get along."

"Well we did UP UNTIL WHEN HE WOULDN'T GO WITH ME TO THE HUSH SOUND CONCERT!"

"Oh you know I would have gone if I could have. I actually respect them. You knew I had other plans that night!"

"Whatever," Arden sighed. "Let's just try to remain civil."

Everyone stared at the pair in shock, before cramming into the booth.

"Well, then this should be fun," Sharpay sighed heavily.

"So, uh, I was thinking…"

"Not now, Oliver," Arden sighed in an annoyed manner.

Oliver became very sad and quiet and sunk down into the booth dejectedly.

"Oh Oliver," Arden said softly patting his shoulder. "Just give me a chance to calm down ok. I really do think you're kinda all right."

"Really?" Oliver said a huge smiling enveloping his pale face. "OK, I'll just leave you alone for a second."

"OK. Great," Arden replied with a grin.

"Arden?" Oliver questioned literally a second later.

"Yes?" Arden replied, trying not to sound as exasperated as she had the first time.

"I think you're really pretty."

"Thank you, Oliver."

Satisfied that he had done his part, he then turned to Gabriella and proceeded to ask her whether she had picked up any "funny-ass-shit telenovelas".

"Oliver, telenovela means soap opera, not novel."

"Dude, really? Well thanks for telling me. I would have gone around sounding like an idiot whenever I said that." Oh Oliver you manage to do that _without_ saying words in other languages that don't mean what you think they do.

.o.

Troy feeling rather guilty that he had invited Jet along, hunched over the table and said, "Listen man. I'm really sorry about all this. If I would've known…"

"Oh dude. It's fine. I mean you wouldn't have. Besides I want to be here. I just wish she wasn't."

Troy nodded and the two butted fists in some sort of macho "we're cool" kinda thing.

Sharpay rolled her eyes and engaged Troy in a fascinating conversation about headscarves. Bet he's having loads of fun discussing which color shade looks best with honey-wheat blonde locks.

.o.

Ryan called a waiter over and after much discussion the group ordered a large cheese, a large pepperoni and anchovies, and a large vegetable pizza, along with a round of various sodas.

Everyone was able to easily talk to each other; except for Jet and Arden who avoided each other like the plague. This made for a couple awkward moments but by the end of the meal, Jet had wormed his way into the gang much to Ryan's relief. He was really excited to finally have someone he could really relate to. It was cool.

.o.

Everyone began filing out of the pizza parlor, waving goodbye to Jet and wishing him luck on being able to get off of work earlier so they could all hang out later in the day.

He grinned and waved back as he raced over to the elevators to head back up to Nook's.

"So," Oliver said as he and Arden separated from the rest of the group so he could walk her back to the arcade. "Do I get another date?"

Arden smiled. "I don't know. Do you think you deserve it?"

Oliver made a 'psh-yeah" sound and replied, "For SURE! I mean, look at me. What's not to like?"

Arden chuckled as they reached the arcade. "OK. Fine. I consent to at least one more date," she said mock-formally. "Call me," she said as she walked into the arcade.

"BUT," Oliver yelled out. "I don't know your number."

"Figure it out," she called back to him, not even turning around to look at poor Oliver's shocked face.

**Well here it is. I hope it wasn't too terrible. Thanks for reading! **


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